Tainted
by poefryekenway
Summary: [Part 2 of Little Sister] Emma Gilbert has been through hell and back. She's experienced loss, pain, betrayal and the list keeps going. Due to the Mikaelson threat that's rising, responsibility falls onto her and her loved ones to take them down. Though, can she deal with more tragedy along the way? Officially begins at S3 Ep. 6 'Smells like Teen Spirit'
1. New Beginnings

Emma's eyes shot open and she instantly regretted it. There was a blinding light that shone in her face, and she had to use her hands to cover her poor eyes. She blinked rapidly, giving herself a moment to adjust to the light. Once the black spots in her vision vanished, she looked around to see. . . nothing. She sat up from her spot on the ground, but she wasn't even sure if she was on the ground.

The young Gilbert found herself in a white space that extended, well, who knew? There was no definition of any walls or a door or anything. It was just blinding white everywhere. Emma got up to her feet quickly and turn around to find anything but failed.

"Where am I?" she asked herself, her voice echoing outward.

She looked down to see a large, dark red stain in the middle of her shirt, causing the previous events to fill her mind. The gym. Stefan killing the two teenagers. Herself shouting at Klaus. Rebekah. . . stabbing her with the crowbar.

"Oh, my god!" Emma shouted, grabbing the material of her shirt.

She died. Like, for real. She bled out! Breathed her last breath. So then, where was she? Heaven? If she was, why was it so empty?

"Emma."

She whirled around in the direction of where the voice came from. Her eyes widened at the person before her. "Jared?!"

The boy let out a chuckle, giving her a small wave. "Hey."

This was the most confused Emma had ever been in her entire life. "Why? H-how are you here?" she asked, an overwhelming feeling consuming her. "Wait. If you're here, then-Are you dead?!" she shouted. Jared opened his mouth to respond but Emma paid no attention. "How did you die? I'm so sorry I wasn't there-"

"Emm-"

"-to at least help you. If it was Klaus-"

"Let me ex-"

"-then he's so dead. Well, I can't really kill becau-"

"Emma!" Jared yelled, silencing the girl. "Can I please explain?" he asked, receiving a nod. "Okay, so this may be a shock, but as you know, you died."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." Jared sent her a look. "Sorry, go on."

Jared smiled. "Thank you. So, um, I'm here because, well, I'm your. . ." He trailed off at the end, making Emma cup her ear.

"You're my what?"

"I'm you're guardian angel." he finally said.

Emma stood there, staring at the boy. A guardian angel? "What?"

Jared nodded, rocking back and forth on his feet. "Yeah, I know it's hard to process. Let me further explain. I was sent down to Earth to protect you and help guide you with your gift as a seer, since as you know, a seer is a profit of sorts appointed by God."

"You certainly didn't do a good job." Emma pointed out, gesturing to where they were. Then something clicked in her head. "Hold on a second. If you are my guardian angel, then does that mean everything we've been through, the kiss and the date, was all a ruse? Were you just pretending?"

"At the beginning yes but when I k-."

Emma raised her finger, silencing him. "Wow. Is there a form I could fill out for a replacement angel?" Jared tried to speak again, but the glare she sent him stopped him. "So, if I'm dead, why am I here with you?"

"Well, because I'm your guardian-"

"Ex-guardian."

"Sure. Because I'm your _guardian_ , I am here to inform you aren't actually dead."

"But you just said I was dead."

Jared let out a sigh. "I only said you died."

"So that means I'm dead. How can I not be-"

"Let me talk!" Jared shouted, his own anger boiling inside him. "I know you're angry with me but you're making my job a lot harder with your interruptions. Just please, let me finish." Emma reluctantly nodded. "You're not dead because you're going to come back to life as a vampire."

Emma sucked in a breath. A vampire? She was coming back as a vampire? But, how? She couldn't drink Stefan's blood. Klaus made sure of it by compelling her to reject it. She looked at Jared, her eyes urging him to tell her more. The angel snapped his fingers and a plain white door appeared to his left. He motioned for her to follow him as he began to walk toward the door. She slowly walked after him, watching him open the door that revealed an actual room on the other side. Once she stepped through it after Jared, she saw that she was back at the warehouse in Chicago. She was in an aisle of shelves.

"Hey, Jared." she called out, looking around, seeing the Mikaelson caskets placed on the shelves. "why are we-"

"He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it."

Emma's head snapped over at the end of the aisle, cautiously following the sound of the voice.

"She's wrong."

 _Was that Stefan?_ she thought, speeding her pace up. When she rounded the corner, she was taken back seeing Rebekah, Stefan, Klaus, and herself standing close to each other. Emma went up to her double, which she noticed no one even acknowledged her presence, and remembered exactly what was going on. This was the moment when Klaus realized Stefan and herself were lying to him about Elena.

"And if he's not in, she is too." Emma heard, turning to see Rebekah's glaring gaze directed at her, or at the other her.

"What is going on?" Emma questioned, backing up to look at everyone.

Jared appeared next to her, causing her to jump. "This is your forgotten memory." he said, watching as Klaus shot forward and snapped Stefan's neck.

Emma shook her head as she flinch when Stefan fell to the floor. "That's impossible. I remember this. Next, he's going to go to me and compel me to sleep."

The angel remained silent, making Emma furrow her eyebrows in confusion. She returned to watching the scene in front of her. Like she said, Klaus vamped over to the other her, only this time, he covered her mouth with his wrist, holding her head with his other hand as she struggled against him. Emma gasped, knowing that Klaus was doing.

"He fed me his blood?" she asked Jared, who only nodded.

Klaus removed his wrist, the other Emma coughing violently. The hybrid, then, grabbed her face, his pupils already dilating.

"In a few moments, you will forget everything I'm about to tell you. From this moment on, you will not drink vampire blood, from anyone, to heal any wound."

"Nik, why feed her your blood if you're just going to keep her alive?" Rebekah voiced, her arms crossed in annoyance.

Klaus glanced over to his sister. "If it turns out what I'm thinking is true, at least I can use this to our advantage." He turned back to the girl. "Now, sleep." And the other Emma was out.

The scene before the real Emma seemed to have paused, like someone pausing a movie for a quick break. Emma turned to Jared, her mind blown away. "So, he just made me forget what he did to me?"

"Yeah," Jared replied, shoving one of his hands in the pocket of his jeans. He snapped his fingers again with the other hand, the door popping out of nowhere behind them.

Emma shuffled her feet after him to return to the white space, her head pounding with how many thoughts she was thinking about. "So-so I'm going to be a vampire?"

The door slammed shut and disappeared as Jared scratched the back of his neck. "Um, actually no."

The Gilbert let out a frustrated groan. "Oh, my god! You are, like, the worst guardian angel in the world! Can't you tell me a straight forward answer?!" she yelled, waving her arms frantically.

"I'm sorry! I'm still new at this."

"Oh, great. So God decided to give me a beginner guardian?"

"Kind of." Emma reached out and started to slap Jared's arm rapidly. "Ow, stop." he cried out, backing away from the girl. "I'm trying my best. Anyways, you're not just going to be a vampire. You're still going to have your seer powers. Since you're God's profit, He thought that you should keep them."

"Then why can't I just stay human?"

"It goes against the balance of nature. You have to be a vampire." Jared explained, rubbing his arm.

Emma ran her hand through her hair. "When do I come back to life, then. Or go back to earth?"

Jared raised his wrist and checked his watch. "Uh, now."

* * *

Emma gasped, her eyes snapping wide open. She was glad she was no longer in that white area, the brightness was too much. She was staring straight up, seeing the wood panels of the ceiling above. Was this how the gym's ceiling always looked like?

"Emma?"

The girl flinched, burying herself further in the couch she was laying on from the voice next to her as if the volume was too loud. The gym had a couch, too?

"Emma, are you alright?" the voice asked.

She finally moved her head to the side and saw Elena, covered in a blanket, and Damon standing a few feet from her. It was then she noticed the bookshelves and the table with glasses full of bourbon. She was in the boarding house. Emma continued to look around and winced in pain as she stared into the fire in the fireplace, light being too much.

"No." Damon said, his face full of shock. With two quick steps, he was by the girl's side. He grabbed both sides of her face, looking into her eyes. "Say 'Damon is the greatest.'"

Emma looked at Damon as if he was crazy. "Why would I say that?"

"Damn it, Emma. Do as I say." Damon demanded, the girl seeing his eyes dilating.

She understood what he was trying to do and looked at him with sad eyes. "I can't do that, Damon. N-not anymore." she said, small tears starting to form in her eyes.

Damon let go of her face and turned to the fireplace, placing a hand on the mantel. Elena tightened the blanket around her, looking from Emma and Damon.

"What is going on?" she asked.

Emma removed the blanket covering herself and got up from the couch. "When I, uh, died, I had vampire blood in me." she said, watching as Elena lost her grip on the blanket around her, it landing on the ground. "K-Klaus had made me drink his before Stefan and I returned to Mystic Falls as a secret play or something. He made me forget but, uh, I remember it now."

Damon growled and left the two girls, stomping his feet as he left.

There was a moment of silence that fell over after he was gone. No one moved from their spots. Emma and Elena stayed staring at each other with tears in both their eyes. Suddenly, Elena shot forward and engulfed Emma in a tight hug. Emma had to go onto her tippy toes to make it easier for the older sister to hug her.

"I'm so sorry, Em. I should have never-"

"No, Elena. Don't blame yourself." Emma broke away from the hug for a moment. "This was not your fault." she said, hugging Elena again.

It was then when Emma registered a loud, pounding sound coming from Elena, a sound she never heard of before. Immediately, Emma could hear the blood flowing through Elena's veins. She felt the urge to take a sniff of the oldest's neck. _Stop!_ she thought to herself, pushing Elena away from her and taking many steps back.

"Emma, what?" Elena asked, seeing the young girl's panicked face.

Emma help her hands up to stop Elena from coming to her. "Don't come closer. I-I might hurt you." she said. She could still hear Elena's pounding heart.

Both their attentions turned to Damon's return. He didn't look at any of them, just went straight to Emma and shoved a clear package against her chest. "Drink."

"W-"

The girl was going to question his actions when she looked at what he gave her. The red immediately catching her eye, the package squishing in her hand. Through the packaging, she could smell the substance. Her mouth began to water.

"Damon, we can't just make her drink it."

Damon glared at Elena. "If she doesn't, she'll _die_. For real this time. The only way is for her to drink the damn blood."

Emma could feel their stares on her as she contemplated her choices. If she didn't drink the blood, she'd wither away and die. If she did, she'd continue to live but as a . . . vampire. Forever. Everyone she knows who's human would die and she'd still be living. And she wished making the decision was easy, but all she could think about was the blood in her hands. _Screw it._

In a flash, Emma ripped off the cap of the blood bag, drinking the blood fast and closing her eyes in delight. Before, when Stefan had fed her his blood to heal her broken arm during the festival not that long ago, the iron taste was awful and almost made her gag. Now. Man. Now, it tasted great. The sweetness and thickness reminded her of honey. It _was_ like she was drinking honey. And it felt good. She squeezed the bag to get the last little bit to her lips and tossed the bag to the ground.

"I want more." she said, panting heavily.

Damon shook his head. "No. Too much, you won't be able to control yourself."

Emma glowered at the older vampire. She was going to have more blood and she was going to have it now. The newly made vampire moved to run past Damon but felt herself shoot forward. She grabbed onto the door frame of the library, catching herself from falling. Looking back over to the main area of the library, she saw Damon and Elena's surprised looks. _This is more like it_ , Emma thought and used her fast speed to vamp to the basement where the cooler full of blood bags was. She grabbed the lid and ripped it off its hinges, the object clattering on the ground along with its screws. She reached out and tore open a bag, quickly bringing it to her mouth.

She never thought she was going to end up loving the taste of blood. God, she was missing out before. Now she understood why Stefan couldn't stop. The girl could feel some blood trickle down her chin, but that only made her mad because she was wasting some of it. She heard footsteps approaching to her left, followed by a gasp, though she ignored Damon and Elena. She moved onto her seventh bag.

"Emma! Stop!" Damon shouted, taking the bag out of her hands before she had a chance to open it. His shoes squished the empty bags laying her.

"Give it back!"

He threw the bag aside and blocked the cooler from Emma's way. "You need to stop. You're overwhelming yourself."

"I don't care!" Emma screamed, her fists tightening at her sides. "I. Want. More."

"Emma, please." Elena pleaded, but Emma wished she never said anything.

Emma started to hear the pounding of Elena's heart again, the sound cancelling out everything else. She glanced over at her sister, her focus on her neck.

"E-Emma?"

The young girl vamped forward and slammed Elena against the wall. Her teeth bored out but she stopped herself when she saw Elena's terrified face. She gasped and quickly backed away, covering her mouth.

"I'm sorry." she whispered. She looked over at Damon, who was slowly making his way over. "I-I need to get out of here."

Before either of the others could protest, she used her quickness to get out of the boarding house. Her destination was unknown. She just needed to get away from Elena. Her vision was no longer blurred from how fast she was going and saw that she ended up in an empty alley. The moon barely lit up the area, but the yellow light from the street lamps by the sidewalks showed her that she was in town.

She threw herself against a brick wall and slid down to the floor, her heightened vision clouded by her tears. Damon was right. She had too much and now she couldn't control herself. She almost hurt Elena. Her own sister. If she didn't stop, she would have bitten her. Why? Why did she drink the blood?

From the lit part of the alley, where the street lamps shone bright, the sound of laughter filled the silent air. Emma looked over and saw a couple leaning on each other, laughing like there was no tomorrow. They entered the alley a little bit, the guy pushing his girlfriend against the wall and kissing her. Emma grimaced, those two picked the wrong place to be doing that. The girl ran her hands through the guys hair and he grabbed them and pinned them above her head. The girl giggled, moving their entangled hands against the brick wall before letting out a hiss. In an instant, Emma could smell it.

"Ow, I scratched myself." the girl said, bringing her hand in front of her to show scratch marks on the side, the red shinning from the light.

Emma got up fast but not without knocking over a bottle next to her, gaining the couple's attention. She could see them looking at her strangely, but she turned around and started walking towards the other end of the alley.

"Was that girl watching us?"

She heard the guy scoff. "Probably. What a creeper."

His comment made her a bit annoyed but she pushed it down and kept walking.

"Hey, is your hand good? Want me to kiss it better?"

"Ha. And what? Do you want to suck on it like a vampire, too?"

Emma stopped, looking over her shoulder to see the guy smirk. "Only if you want me too."

The girl never had a chance to reply. The Gilbert had already thrown the boyfriend across the alley who let out a groan after he landed. The girl screamed seeing Emma's face covered in veins and her teeth sticking out.

"Don't make a noise." Emma said, never breaking eye contact with the girl. The girl stopped screaming. "Don't move." The girl stopped shaking. "And give me your hand." The girl held it out for her.

Emma took it and examined the wound, a small trace of blood trailing down towards the center of the palm. She bent her head down and licked it, letting out a satisfied sigh. This blood tasted better than the ones before. She bit down on the wound and started to drink the blood flowing out. It was so warm, like drinking hot chocolate on a snowy day. But she wanted more. Emma let the girl's arm fall limp to her side, and moved to bite her neck when she heard the boyfriend to her left.

"O-oh, my god." He had gotten up from the ground, his eyes wide with fright.

Emma smirked, now advancing toward him. "Yeah, He's kind of my friend."

"You're fucking craz-"

The vampire grabbed him by the neck and brought it down to her lips, biting down hard. The guy began to yell but she covered his mouth with her other hand. His blood tasted different, but a good different. If she was being honest, though, it was difficult to choose which one tasted better. When she was done, his body fell to the floor and her attention when back to the girlfriend, who was standing still against the wall. Emma walked back over and smiled at her.

"Sorry about that. Where was I?" she asked, then biting on the girl's neck.

After there was nothing left to drink, she licked her lips for more as the body fell. She started to laugh. What a rush that was. It was the best thing she ever experienced. Emma continued to laugh, staring at the girl's body, only, something inside her made her laughter falter. She saw the girl's lifeless eyes staring at nothing, her chest not moving, her body still. She stopped laughing and bent down, touching the unbitten side of the girl's neck to check her pulse. Nothing.

"Oh, no." she whispered, vamping quickly to the guy and checking his as well. Nothing. "Oh, my god!" she exclaimed, backing away and grabbing her head. "What did I do?!"

Emma fell to her knees, hyperventilating uncontrollably. She just killed two innocent people. _Two_. Sobbing, she started to rock herself back and forth, trying to forget what she had done. There was no way she could.

"Oh, sweetheart. You poor thing." a voice said behind her. She didn't move from her spot as she heard the owner's footsteps stop right next to her. "You seem to have made a mess."

"G-go away, Klaus." she choked out, cowering away when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Now, Emma. Don't turn away help." he said, a knowing smile on his stupid face. "Come on. Up you go." He grabbed her elbow and helped her up.

"S-s-stop." she said, struggling against him but even as a vampire, she was still weaker than him. "You d-did this to m-me-e."

Klaus chuckled, turning her so she was facing him. "I may have given you my blood, darling, but it was Rebekah that landed the final blow. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead."

"Because of you, I-I killed those people."

She watched him shrug. "Something you won't need to worry about." Klaus glanced behind her and she heard a new set of footsteps. "Nice of you to join us, Stefan."

Stefan laughed, appearing in Emma's line of sight. "Well, I had to see it for myself. This was definitely a surprise."

Emma stared into his eyes, noticing something different. He was not the same Stefan he was back at the gym. Not the same one back in Chicago. This Stefan, he seemed confident, laid back, not a care in the world. What did she miss while she was out?

"Since you're here, could you take care of the mess? I'd like to have a chat with Ms. Gilbert." Klaus said, guiding Emma away as Stefan started to get to work.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore. I'm going home." Emma said, breaking away from Klaus and walking away from him.

"So you could just hurt Elena and your brother?" Klaus questioned, causing her to stop in her tracks. "That's what I thought. I could help you," he began, Emma turning around to see him leaning against a wall. "take away the guilt you're putting on yourself." he suggested.

Emma looked at him as if he was crazy, which he was. "You want me to turn off my humanity? To be like you?" She quickly glanced over at Stefan, connecting the dots. "And I'm assuming you did that to him, except you probably forced him against his will."

"Maybe. But it would make our plans easier if you cooperate." he said, before freezing.

The girl observed the hybrid, looking for any kind of movement, but he didn't move a muscle. She looked back at Stefan to see he was bending down, but also still. What was going on?

"So this is a problem."

She whirled around and saw Jared standing not far from her, hands on his hips.

"I thought I said I wanted a new guardian angel." she pointed out. "Because you suck. Really bad. You-you let me do _that_." She gestured to the couple behind her.

"Yeah, I know. I thought you were still at the boarding house, but when I peeked through the windows, I saw your sister and that one guys freaking out. I realize that I was too late to help." he said, hands behind his head. "But, I'm here now, considering you need to make a very tough choice right now."

Emma scoffed, anger boiling up within. "I don't have a choice! If I don't listen to Klaus, he'll kill everyone I know."

"That may be true, though, you do have the choice if you want to cooperate as yourself or a feelingless monster."

The young Gilbert stared at Stefan, knowing that if she turned it off, there would be no way back for her. She already messed up and she was in her right mind. Who knows the damage she could do if she lost herself.

She kicked a small rock away, arms crossed tightly. "You're right." She rolled her eyes when she saw Jared fist-pump. "And I can't get a replacement?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, you're stuck with me. Don't worry, I'll be around more."

Emma sighed. "You better." she muttered as Klaus raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"So, what will it be?"

"What's the plan?"

* * *

 **And that's the next chapter in Emma's crazy adventure! Please let me know what you thought, this was a fun chapter for me to write. Don't forget to favorite!**

 **I'll see you in the next update! 3**


	2. Smells Like Teen Spirit

Emma stood in front of a ray of sun shine that shone through the window of the guest bedroom she stayed in at the boarding house. She stared at the light, fiddling with a loose piece of thread from her shirt. Slowly, she reached out her free hand and extended her index finger, letting the sun hit it. She let out a let out a hiss, bringing her sizzling finger to her chest. She hated being stuck in the shadows when before, she was able to stand in the sun.

She could hear the giggles coming from the compelled girls Stefan had brought over downstairs.

" _Right foot green._ " he said, the sound of the plastic mat being ruffled. " _Oh, Madison, your turn_." She heard his teeth tearing through the skin of the girl's arm.

It was weird, being able to hear everything crystal clear that was happening downstairs as if she was standing right there. And her smelling ability? God, Stefan left open wounds on the girls and it took every fiber in her body to not vamp down there and instantly devour them.

Emma turned away from the window and headed out the bedroom, grabbing the plastic bag by the door filled with her bloody clothes from last night.

When Klaus said that he needed her for his new master plan, she expected something grand. The only thing he told her to do was to help keep Elena safe with Stefan. Like she wasn't trying to do that already. After, Klaus went on his merry way and left the girl in Stefan's care who basically forced her to help him bury the two people she accidentally killed. She shuddered, remembering the blank, pale faces of her unfortunate victims and the dirt surrounding them.

She made it to the top of the stairs and grimaced at the sight of dead girls laying on the steps all the way down. When she and Stefan finished their task, Stefan brought her back to the boarding house, not without offering her a chance to kill more people. It was not an easy thing to say no to. She had gone with him back to the boarding house, well, because she didn't trust herself around Elena or Jeremy. She attacked Elena and just barely stopped herself from killing her. Who knows what she'd do around them again.

Emma quickly made her way downstairs, avoiding the outstretched limbs all over the place. She heard Stefan call out another move as she went to the kitchen, tossing the bag in the garbage. Being in the kitchen made her realize that she didn't need food anymore or would never enjoy food the same way. From what Damon had told her a while back, food was fine for vampires, but it wasn't necessary to have.

The air conditioning kicked on and blasted cool air throughout the house. Emma stoop directly under one and tilted her head up, letting the air hit her face. It was a nice feeling, until a strong smell of blood reached her nose. She grabbed onto the island counter with both hands, the scent making a burning feeling rise in her throat and her teeth ache. She looked over to the cabinets and grabbed a class cup, taking it to the sink and filling it up. She chugged the water and refilled it, downing that as well.

"Eating makes it easier to control."

The voice made her jump, some water getting onto her shirt. She turned around and saw Damon standing by the kitchen door frame, his arms crossed.

She finished the last of the water before responding. "Oh, really? Then, is there any food here? Because this is torture." She got more water.

Damon walked over to the pantry, opening the door and taking out a bag of cheese puffs. He tossed it over to her and she ripped the bag open, shoving handfuls of the processed food in her mouth. It tasted bland to her, but it helped, only a little bit. She could still feel the urge, but not as much as before.

"T-han-ks." she muffled out.

Damon nodded as she shoved another handful in her mouth. He reached into one of his jeans' pockets and pulled something out. He set the object on the island counter and slid it across to her.

"Here."

Emma looked at the counter, wiping her mouth with the back of her arm. On the island counter was her mother's necklace, which made her instinctively reach for her chest. She didn't even realize it was gone.

"I found it on the floor in the basement, after what happened." he explained, watching her set the cheese puff bag down and pick up the piece of jewelry. "I took the vervain out and then made a stop this morning to our friend, Sabrina the teenage witch, and she did her magic."

Emma held the locket in her hands, opening it to see the Gilbert family picture. "You told Bonnie?"

Damon sighed, popping a cheese puff in his mouth. "You can't stay trapped here forever." he pointed out. He nodded his head towards the back door that led out to the large backyard. "Let's try it out."

Closing the locket and clipping it on, the young Gilbert followed him outside but stopped right before the shade provided by the house ended. She looked at Damon, standing in the sunlight, and repeated what she did earlier up in the guest room. She smiled when her index finger didn't sizzle like before. She stepped forward completely in the light, her arms stretched out. She couldn't help but let some tears fall.

"I-I can't believe that just yesterday, I didn't have to worry about frying in the sun or-r accidentally killing people when I lose control drinking freaking blood!" she rushed out, as more and more tears flowed down her face.

"Hey, hey, shh." Damon said, pulling the girl toward him and wrapping his arms around her. "It's hard. I know. I wish I could say it gets better, but I'd be lying."

Emma smiled into his chest, glad to be around Damon again. She pulled back a little, looking up at the older vampire. "Thanks. I-I'm sorry about Andy. You were getting too close to us and Klaus was going to kill you. Stefan was supposed to scare you off and I told him to go easy. Oh! And I'm glad to see that Katherine actually gave you the cure for the werewolf bi-"

"Whoa, whoa, pipsqueak, slow down." He rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Sorry." she said, a light blush on her face. "I just miss talking to you."

Damon gave her a light smile just as the sudden sound of laughter from inside made the girl jump. He groaned, rolling his eyes. " _Stefan_." he grunted, turning toward the house and heading inside, Emma behind him.

As they made their way to the living room, she grabbed the bag of cheese puffs.

"Hey, the 2 brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug." Damon announced, pointing to his left.

Stefan, who was drinking from the wrist of a girl, used his hand to wipe the blood from the corners of his mouth. Emma was halfway done with the cheese puff bag.

"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It's my house, too, brother." Stefan moved his head and saw Emma standing behind Damon. "Ooh, Emma! Wanna a turn?" When he saw Emma shake her head, he waved the spinning board in the air. "Oh, come on. You know you want to." She shoved more food in her mouth.

"So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena?" Damon questioned, turning the attention on himself for Emma's sake.

Stefan scoffed, gesturing in front of him to the girls chatting and giggling as they played Twister. "These ladies are helping me be all that I can be."

A knock came from the front door and Emma was quick to go and open it so she could get away from the area. Her eyes widened to see Rebekah on the other side with a pink feather in her hair and bags of clothes in her hands.

"You're still alive?" she asked, her eyes narrowing at the girl. "Oh, wait. You came back to life, didn't you." She pushed past the young girl, leaving her shocked and confused where she was. "Stefan?"

Damon crossed his arms. "Who the hell are you?"

"He left me here. My brother actually left me here." Rebekah complained to Stefan.

Stefan pointed to himself. "I'm sorry. You're tone implies that I'm supposed to care."

"You're Klaus' sister?" Damon asked.

"And also the person who killed me." Emma added, anger filling her body rapidly. The original had some nerve showing up here. Damon quickly glanced over at the girl and the other vampire.

Rebekah smiled over her shoulder at Damon. "Rebekah. Pleasure, I'm sure. Which one's my room?"

Stefan chuckled. "You're not staying here."

The original glared at everyone. "Rude. All of you. I'll see it to myself." she said, stomping away.

"I guess she's staying here." Stefan concluded, receiving a shrug from Damon.

He waved the spin board again towards Emma but she reached the bottom of the bag and she raced back to the kitchen. She tossed the empty bag in the trash can and searched the pantry for something else to eat. She found a jumbo bag of pre-popped popcorn which she gladly opened and began to devour the contents. The sound of Stefan's footsteps sounded through the kitchen.

"Better get ready for the first day of school, Em." he said, giving her a smile.

Emma looked at him with a bewildered expression on her face. "What?!" she exclaimed, the handful of popcorn in her hand falling back into the bag. "You want me to go to school where there are a lot of people I could potentially hurt, like my friends and my the last bit of my family."

Stefan waved her off. "Don't worry. I won't let you hurt Elena."

"Yeah, because you were compelled to. What about everyone else?"

"Collateral damage."

Emma glared at him. "I'm not going."

Stefan chuckled, advancing slowly toward Emma, leaving her pinned against the counter. "You are. Unless, you want me to visit your brother and have a little. . . chat." he threatened.

She hated this Stefan and the fact that he would kill people just to get his way. Damon needed to hurry up and figure out a way to save Stefan, fast.

"Fine." she said, after having a stare off with the Salvatore. "Let me go change." she said, gesturing to her pj's. She pushed past him and used her vampire speed to go upstairs, of course, not without falling over some steps. When she entered the room she was staying in, though, she was thrown off to see Rebekah in there, tossing her clothes all over the floor. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Rebekah threw one last t-shirt of Emma's over her shoulder and began to place the new clothes she bought in the drawers. "Settling in my room, that's what."

Emma picked up a pair of jeans closest to her. "But this is the room I'm staying in. Find a different one."

"Why should I if you could do the same?"

The young girl was shaking with anger. This was ridiculous. Not only did she invite herself to stay in the boarding house, she just had to take Emma's room.

"Hurry along. The mess isn't going to clean itself." Rebekah crumbled one of the bags, moving onto the next one.

As much as she wanted to say something, she knew it would only lead to Rebekah getting mad at her and her permanent death. Reluctantly, Emma bent down and gathered all of her clothes and other things the original tossed on the floor. She left her previous room and went to one of the other empty ones further away. She placed everything on the bed and changed into casual clothing for school, leaving the mess for later.

The newly made vampire went back downstairs, noting that someone took care of the dead and compelled girls. She headed toward the open front door, seeing Stefan standing there with a backpack in hand.

"Happy first day." he said, tossing it to her.

Emma rolled her eyes, catching it and sitting in the passenger seat of his car. She was about to put her seat belt on when Rebekah appeared and knocked on the window.

"Move to the back seat." she said, pointing to the back.

The young girl stared wide eyed at the original. "What? You're coming with us?" She looked over at Stefan as he entered the vehicle. "Why the hell is she going to our school?"

Stefan shrugged, the car roaring to life. "Couldn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes. So, move."

She groaned and climbed to the back, hoping her sneakers left footprints on his leather seats. It was a short drive to the school and as they got closer, that's when it really hit her. She was a vampire and there was no telling how she was going to control herself around everyone. Man, if only she had more cheese puffs.

Once the car was parked and the engine was off, Stefan and Rebekah went their separate ways, leaving the girl behind. Emma watched her fellow classmates walk past her, the sounds of their heart beats the only thing she couldn't help but to focus on. Clutching the strap on her backpack, she slowly started to walk towards the school doors, trying her best to keep her distance. She let out a breath of relief when she saw a familiar face heading in her direction.

"Jared, thank god you're here." she said, some of her nervousness disappearing. "Literally."

The angel chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "I wasn't sure if you were going to come today. You know, considering. . ." He trailed off.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, neither did I but Mr. Emotionless forced me to come. I am freaking out. Everywhere I look, all I do is zone in on people's necks or wrists and imagine myself sinking my teeth in-"

Jared shushed her, covering her mouth with his hand. "Whoa, you are talking _way_ too loud. Don't worry, I have something that will help with that." He opened the front pocket of his backpack.

"Great." Emma said with a smile. "You have no idea- wait. This is supposed to help me?" she asked, looking at the pack of gum and sunglasses he had in his hands.

"Yup. The sunglasses," He held them up for her to see. "are for when your face accidentally does that vein thing and people won't see them."

She held them. "Yay, I'm going to be that one person that wears sunglasses indoors."

"And the gum is to help out with your teeth." he continued, ignoring her comment and placing the minty flavored gum in her hands as well.

"Thanks." Emma placed the sunglasses on her face and popped a piece of gum in her mouth. She hated to admit, the gum actually helped.

"Oh, and here."

Emma took the folded paper Jared handed her, opening it up and seeing her schedule. "Wow, I completely forgot about this."

"Yeah, I got mine and picked yours up. I also used some of my," He lowered his voice a bit. "angel magic to make sure we had the same classes."

The school bell rang. Emma started to walk again. "Well, then. Let's get to class."

* * *

By the end of first period, Emma was already down to her last stick of gum. Being in close proximity with a bunch of people was very, very difficult. Jared had tried his best to keep her calm and pace herself with the gum, but she couldn't pay attention to him.

"Okay. Stay here while I go buy you like, thirty more packs." Jared ordered her, guiding her over to a row of lockers.

She watched him disappear in the sea of high school students. The piece of gum in her mouth lost its flavor but she kept chewing it. Some kids gave her weird looks after they saw her with the sunglasses, making her wish she could just vanish from there. She watched everyone walk past her and tensed when she saw Jeremy among the crowd. When they made eye contact, she panicked, turning around and trying to go the opposite way he was.

"Emma! Wait!" he called out, shoving people out the way. He caught her arm and brought her to his chest, hugging her tightly. She couldn't help but hug him back, missing his comfort. The mistake she made was inhaling his scent. She backed away fast, happy to have the sunglasses.

"Elena told me that you and Stefan were back, but she didn't say you were going to stay. Why didn't you come home?"

"W-well. You know." she said, glancing up at him. His confused expression resulted in her own. "Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Jeremy asked.

She was taken aback. Elena didn't tell him about her turning into a vampire? Why? If Elena didn't tell him, then should she? "Um, Klaus, he made me stay with Stefan."

"Oh." Was all Jeremy had said. She could see and hear the disappointment in his voice and his face, but as soon as it came, it went away. "I-I'm sure we'll figure something out. I gotta go." he said, heading past her.

Emma watched him leave, unsure what to make of what had happened. One thing that was for certain was that she needed to talk to Elena. And fast.

* * *

"How was I supposed to know that strawberry was your least favorite?" Jared asked, bending down to touch his toes.

Emma rolled her eyes, putting her arm across her chest and using her other hand to stretch out the muscle. "Yeah, yeah. At least now you know."

Thanks to the massive amount of gum Jared bought her, she was finally able to calm her craving down and since it was P.E., she thought it was alright to take the sunglasses off.

"So, I have a question." Emma announced, checking to see if her shoes were tied. "Am I supposed to keep your true identity a secret from everyone? Like can I tell Jeremy?" She could see Rebekah and Caroline having a standoff.

Jared shook his head. "Uhh, I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, it's one thing to know that vampires, werewolves, and witches exist. But angels? Whole other category."

Emma tied her hair in a ponytail, then placed her hands on her hips. "Understandable." She looked off to her right, seeing Elena jogging on the track. "Hey, I'll be right back." The girl made the move to leave, but Stefan appeared by Elena's side, making Emma stay put.

" _Look at you being all fit_." Stefan commented, running at Elena's pace. Elena let out an annoyed sigh. " _Hey, you going to the bonfire tonight? Sounds fun, right_?"

Elena stopped. " _Seriously, Stefan, leave me alone._ " She tried running the other way, but Stefan ran backwards.

" _You think I'm annoying now? What I'll homecoming. Hey, who you bringing, by the way? I don't want to be weird_."

Because she was distracted, someone bumped into Elena. The guy said sorry and Elena accepted his apology, but Stefan came up and shoved the guy to the ground.

" _Watch it, dick_!" he shouted. Emma took that as a sign to intervene.

"Who are you?!" Elena yelled just as Emma was able to join the two.

"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag." Stefan said, the guy being helped up by his friend. "I mean, no offense or anything."

Emma stood between her sister and the Salvatore. "Back down, Stefan."

Stefan threw his head back as chuckled. "Wow. It's only day 1 as a vampire and you somehow think that you can protect Elena against me." he said, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze. Emma let out a quiet yelp, trying to get his arm off of her, but failed. "Don't do something you'll regret." And he walked away.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked Elena, rubbing her shoulder.

The doppelganger nodded, watching her ex-boyfriend's retreating form. "I guess. What about you? He had a really good grip on you."

Emma shrugged, waving her off. "Yeah. The plus side to being a vampire is that if I break a bone, it will heal like this." she said, ending with a snap. She remembered her encounter with Jeremy. "Actually, speaking of that. I talked to Jer earlier. And, he doesn't know about me."

Elena sucked in a breath. "I know. I was going to, but, honestly, I thought it was going to be too much for him and I think this is something you tell him about."

"O-okay. I get that." she said. She pointed behind her. "Well, I'll let you jog and stuff." The girl started to walk away but stopped. "Oh, Elena. I just wanted to apologize about last night."

Elena took a second to remember what she was referring to. "It's fine. You had no control."

"Yeah, but-"

"Hey." Elena interrupted, reaching out for Emma's arm. "It was an accident." She gave the girl a smile and left.

Emma heard Jared's footsteps in the grass of the football field. He appeared next to her with his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

"Feel better?" he asked, glancing over at her.

"I don't know."

* * *

Emma was thrilled when the last bell of the day rang. She did not want to deal with Stefan and Rebekah, or as Damon call her 'Barbie Klaus', so she decided to use her vampire speed to head back to her home.

She stood on the porch, right in front of the door. Using the spare key from under the welcome mat, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. The house looked exactly the same: same pictures, same furniture, same everything. She could sense the barrier. Emma brought her hand up and tried to reach into the house, but it was as if an invisible wall was placed right in the door frame.

The sound of a car pulling up on the drive way made her turn around to see Jeremy pulling up in Jenna's old car.

"Em, I thought you said you had to stay at the boarding house." he said, getting out of the car.

Emma adjusted her backpack. "I needed to get something from home, but, uh, I'll just come back later." She turned to leave.

"No, don't go." Jeremy smiled at her and stepped inside.

The youngest Gilbert went stiff, watching her brother toss his backpack on the couch and begin to head to the kitchen. He stopped walking when he noticed she wasn't following him.

He smiled at her. "What are you doing out there? Why aren't you coming in?"

"W-well-"

"Emma." Jeremy's smile faltered a bit, her hesitation leaving him uneasy. "What's going on?"

She let out a sigh. "I can't come inside."

Jeremy went back to the open door, crossing his arms. "Did Klaus compel you not to or something?"

"No."

He laughed nervously. "What? Are you a vampire now and you need me to invite you in?" he joked, but her face told him everything. "Please tell me that's not true."

"I can't do that, Jer." Emma responded, trying to hold back a sob.

Jeremy clenched his jaw, anger evident in his face. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday." she whispered.

"I'm going to-"

"What, Jer? Kill Klaus? You could try but there's no way to kill him." Emma snapped. She let out a shaky breath. "I should not have come. I have to go." She turned and left, not looking back.

* * *

The young Gilbert sat at the long dining room table, a bag of blood placed not far from her. She eyed the bag, her foot bouncing up and down like crazy. The last time she had blood was last night and that ended horribly. But even so, she hadn't had anything since then. And the need for it was becoming unbearable now, worse than earlier. She was worried she wouldn't have control if she drank right now.

To help her keep her mind off of what could happen, she listened to Elena and Damon talking upstairs. The doppelganger was already at the boarding house when Emma came back, working out to build up her strength. It was kind of funny to the young girl that her sister was trying to get really strong and she was stronger than her. It was a quick conversation, but, basically, Damon gave Elena advise on how to stake a vampire, which was a little unsettling. Though, she did sense something in the way Damon spoke to Elena, making her wonder if something happened while she and Stefan were gone.

Damon entered the dining room, an eyebrow raised in question. "You good there, pipsqueak?"

Emma bit her thumbnail. "I need your help." She pointed to the bag. "With that."

"Oh." Damon let out, grabbing the bag and tossing it up. "Okay, give me a second." Emma watched him go over to the China cabinet and pulled out a glass cup, setting it down in front of her. "What you need to learn is portion control."

"Portion control." she repeated as Damon twisted off the cap of the bag.

He poured the blood in the glass halfway. "And restraint." he added just in time to stop Emma from reaching for the cup.

She groaned, fidgeting in her seat. "Please, hurry up. I'm dying here."

"Patient, my young padawan." Damon sat in the seat next to hers. "As you know, us vampires don't have a limit to how much blood we can have. We could just drink and drink and drink-"

Emma held the edge of the table, squeezing it so hard that she dented the edge.

"-which is why some of us learn to pace ourselves." he finished, sliding the glass to her. "Now drink like it's water."

She grabbed it and, following Damon's advise, took a decent sip of the blood, as much as it killed her. She set the glass back down with a shaky hand.

Damon patted her arm. "Good, good. Wait 5 seconds before taking another sip. After that one, 10 seconds, then 15, 20 and so on until the glass is empty."

He stayed with her as she did so. It was a struggle. It involved her pounding on the table and gripping the handles of her seat. She did this until every last drop of blood was gone from the cup. Damon smiled at her, twisting the cap back on the blood bag. She seized his arm.

"Whoa, wait. That's it?" she asked.

The Salvatore shrugged, already heading to the basement to put the bag away. "Sorry, kiddo. Don't worry, it will get easier with time. Oh, and get ready. It's the annual school bonfire."

* * *

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then, when he's distracted-"

"I'll shoot him." Alaric said, finishing Elena's sentence.

It was late at night and every student that went to Mystic Falls High was in the woods having the time of their lives with music and deer, except Emma and her friends. They were back at the school, in Alaric's classroom, coming up with some sort of plan to break Stefan from Klaus' control.

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon voiced from next to her.

Elena, standing next to Alaric's desk, sighed. "I'm trying to keep her out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her." She turned her attention to Caroline. "Are you covered?"

The vampire straightened her posture. "Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready."

"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah?" Damon reminded. "Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow. And the last time I checked, we have no daggers."

Emma raised her hand. "I could keep her distracted." She groaned when Elena gave her a look. "Come on. I can handle her."

"Fine." Elena said, crossing her arms. "But Damon needs to be with you. It will make me feel better."

Damon smiled. "I'll use my irresistible charm."

"Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric commented, Caroline chuckling next to him.

"Are you ever not going to be mad at me for a day, Rick?"

"Doubtful."

Tyler walked into the classroom. "Sorry I'm late. What's going on?"

Elena leaned onto the desk. "We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while."

"You can't do that to Stefan." the hybrid said, uncertainty written on his face.

Caroline crossed her arms. "Why not?" she asked.

"Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest." Elena insisted.

Tyler shook his head. "It's not in Klaus'."

Everyone looked at Tyler, sending an uneasy feeling everywhere.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler." Caroline reminded him. "You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?"

"Uh-oh." Damon voiced, getting closer to the hybrid.

Emma pushed herself off the bookcase. "'Uh-oh' is not good. What's going on?"

Tyler hooked his thumbs in his jean pockets. "Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

Damon still got closer to Tyler, studying his face. "Oh, boy."

Caroline turned to him. "Okay, can we cool it on the commentary, please?"

Damon reached out and took a vervain dart, making Tyler inch toward the door. "I'm just going to go." he said, but Damon stabbed him in the back with the dart.

"What are you doing!?" Caroline shouted, pushing past the oldest vampire and kneeling next to Tyler's unconscious body on the floor.

"He's been sired." Damon announced. "He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus' blood created him."

"His blood changed me and I still hate him." Emma pointed out.

Damon shook his head. "It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids. He'll seek acceptance from his master."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asked.

"Get a new boyfriend."

Emma walked forward and gestured to the door. "Alright, we are wasting precious time. Let's just head to the bonfire already." she said.

With everyone in agreement, they went to the woods, Caroline taking Tyler back to his house. Once there, Elena broke way to try to trick Stefan and the two remaining vampires went to search for Rebekah. As they searched, they walked past a keg.

"You still feel the burning right?" the Salvatore asked, giving her a side glance.

And thanks to him, she could hear everyone's heart beat and the sound of their blood flowing through their veins. "I wasn't till now." She quickly pulled out her gum pack and put two sticks in her mouth.

Damon rolled his eyes and went to the keg, filling two red solo cups with beer from the kegs. "Here, this should help take the edge off."

Emma looked at him, at the cup, and then back at him. "You're endorsing underage drinking?"

"You're a vamp now. Gotta make the most of it." He pushed the cup closer to her and she finally took it. "Bottoms up." he toasted, chugging the beer.

The girl peered down in the cup and saw the brown liquid. She took out the gum and hesitantly took a giant gulp of the beer. She cringed after swallowing, letting out a cough.

"I forget. Do vampires get drunk?" she asked.

Damon tossed the solo cup behind him. "Yeah, but I'd rather get drunk off of the good stuff. Let's go."

They continued searching the crowd for the original and finally found the girl sitting on a large tree branch, trying to roast a marshmallow.

"Maybe it should just be me, pipsqueak." Damon said, stopping Emma from walking.

Emma groaned. "And why's that?"

"Well, because, like I said before, the way to really keep her distracted is to, you know, exercise my _charm_." he hinted, wiggling his eyebrows.

The girl scrunched her face up in disgust. "Ew, please don't say it like that. Fine. I'll leave her to you." she said, walking away in a different direction.

Emma still had the cup of beer in her hand so she tried to look for a place to throw it away, but couldn't find a trash can. She offered it to a guy who didn't even let her finish asking before chugging the whole thing down and yelling at the top of his lungs. She just walked away and stood by a tree, popping a new stick of gum in her mouth, her craving for blood coming back slightly.

"Hey."

She looked to her left to see Jared next to her with a bottle of water.

"What, angels don't drink?" she joked.

Jared laughed and shook his head. "Nah, we can. But we can't do our jobs right if we are flat out wasted." He took a sip of water. "So, how are the cravings doing? The gum help out?"

Emma nodded, showing him the piece in her mouth. "Yeah, it actually does. Thanks, by the way." They stood in silence for a while, just watching drunk teens do stupid stuff.

The girl focused in on Damon, watching him give Rebekah a s'more. The original licked it and they exchanged a few words before standing up. And sadly, Rebekah shoved the wooden stick in Damon's stomach and walked away. Emma gasped and hurried her way over to him, Jared right behind her.

"Damon! What happened?" she asked, helping him sit back down on the large tree branch.

Damon was about to answer but saw Jared with Emma. "Uh, wh-at is he doing here?" He grunted, Emma having pulled the stick out of his stomach.

"No, don't worry. He's fine-"

"Here, let me help." Jared said over Emma, holding his hand over Damon's wound.

The Salvatore was speechless when the kid's hand glowed and the pain he felt suddenly vanished, as if he was never hurt in the first place.

"What the hell?" he whispered, pulling his shirt up and seeing his wound gone. He looked up at Emma. "Who the hell is he?"

Emma nervously laughed. "My guardian angel?"

* * *

For what seemed like the 55th time in less than 30 minutes, Emma sighed once again, Damon passing around in front of her in the boarding house living room. They had gotten back to the house not that long ago, the plan to kidnap Stefan ending up a huge failure. She was happy to watch Elena stand up to Stefan and tell him she'd never give up on him. Hopefully they'd find a way to help him so that he doesn't lose her.

"So, your little boyfriend is also your guardian angel?"

Her cheeks burned. "He's not my boyfriend."

"And you're some sort of hybrid now?"

She shrugged. "If you see it that way then yes. I'm a hybrid."

Damon went to one of the end tables and poured himself a glass of bourbon. "Damn." He took a sip and then pointed to his head. "Have you had any of your visions yet?"

Emma shook her head, her arms crossed. "No, not yet."

"Well, maybe you helping me get rid of all the rugs Stefan ruined will trigger one." Damon joked, heading over to a run in the hallway.

Fifty-sixth time. Emma got up from the couch and followed him, going to one end and rolling it over to him. The two continued to do this when a gush of air made a vase fall to the floor and shatter.

Damon groaned and walked over to the broken piece. "Keep it up, Stefan." he said as more stuff was being knocked over.

"I don't know if that's Stefan." Emma said, getting an uneasy feeling. She stood up and looked around, using her hearing to follow the noise.

"He's just having a temper tantrum." Damon said, picking up the glass.

She wasn't convinced and still felt guarded. Just then, Damon was sent flying in the air, landing hard on the wood floor. "Damon!" Emma called when she felt a presence behind her. She turned around only to see no one there. Somehow, she felt someone hold both sides of her face and the last thing she heard was a sickening snap.

* * *

 **Yoooo. How is everyone?! This chapter was definitely interesting to write but also super fun so I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

 **I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GUYS! So, that means it's _summer vacation_ for me! I will use this time to write more for this story!**

 **Tell me your thoughts on this chapter please! I love hearing from you all!**

 **See you in the next update! :)**


	3. Ghost World

A groan escaped Emma's lips as she came to, a hand automatically going to her neck. There was a faint throbbing pain in her neck, making her wonder what had happened to cause it. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, realizing her back was flat on the ground. Turning her head to the left, she saw the shattered pieces of a green vase and all the events from last night came flooding back.

She remembered helping Damon with the rubs and the vase being knocked off the table, then he was sent flying and she was knocked out. The girl sat up and looked over to where Damon was thrown to see he wasn't there anymore. She quickly got to her feet, a little wobbly at first, and began to search for the Salvatore. He wasn't in the kitchen or the basement. She almost came to the conclusion that he had recovered and left the house when a soft groan coming from the library came to her ears. She sped over and let out a gasp.

There, in front of the fireplace, sat Damon, chained on one of the dining chairs with a hot poker plunged in his chest. Emma made her way over to him, a sense of déjà vu hitting her. She just had trouble figuring out why she had that feeling but her attempts stopped when Damon groaned again, his head moving slightly.

"Ha, wow. Now, this is something." Stefan voiced, entering the room.

The younger vampire pointed at Damon. "Did you do this to him?"

Stefan held his hands up in defense. "Hey, don't point fingers at me. I'm just as clueless as you are."

Damon finally came to and looked at the two. "Whatever twisted ripper game this is, leave me out of it." he said after noticing the chains and poker.

"I didn't do this." Stefan said, laughing. He walked past Emma to his brother. "It's pretty messed up, though, isn't it?" He ripped the poker out of Damon's chest, tossing it aside and only ripped one of the smaller chains on his wrist before walking away.

"Thanks, Stefan! Thanks a lot." Damon called out, sighing. "Now how the hell am I going to get out of this?"

Emma cleared her throat. "Um, I could help. I do have vampire strength, remember?" she reminded, reaching out and pulling off the chain on his other wrist. She smiled, holding the chain up. "Cool." She went down to get the wires that were around his arms when she looked at his hand. "Hey, where's your-"

All of a sudden, the curtains to a window flew open, letting in a ray of sun light right on Damon who cried out in pain. The sun burned his skin and Emma looked around for his daylight ring, finding it on the floor. She quickly put it on his finger and his skin stopped frying. She finished getting all the chains off of him and helped him up.

"You know," she began as Damon stretched. "this whole setup seems very familiar."

The Salvatore gathered the broken chains and placed them on the coffee table. "Really? And what exactly does this remind you of?"

She thought for a moment, staring at the chair and poker. One name entered her mind. "Mason Lockwood. You did tortured him and killed him just like this." she explained, remembering the werewolf struggling in the chair and the sound of Damon ripping out his heart.

Damon rolled his eyes. "And what? You expect me to believe that Mason's ghost is getting his sweet old revenge on me?" he asked with a joking smile only for it to vanish as he pondered over the words he said.

She went replayed his sentence, realizing that it could be Mason messing with them. Vicki's ghost was trying to come back to the real world and Bonnie was finally able to get rid of her last night, but who knows what kind of backlash the spell the witch used could have done. The two vampires looked at each other and she got the feeling that they both were thinking of the same thing.

Just to make sure, Emma asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That it is Mason's ghost getting his sweet old revenge on me?" Damon answered and Emma nodded. "Damn it!" he yelled, punching the air around him. "Fuck you, Mason! You should have just stayed dead!"

While Damon continued with his rant, all Emma could do was just glance around the room as if to try to find where Mason could be standing and watching them. She gestured over to the other vampire and said a quiet 'sorry', hoping Mason would understand she had no control over that man.

Damon growled, throwing one more punch in the air. "I hope I at least hit him once."

"I highly doubt that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." he said, sending her a half-hearted glare. He looked down at his shirt, seeing the dried blood from Rebekah's wound and the newer one. "Great, and this was one of my favorite shirts." He pulled the shirt over his head, balling it up.

Emma's hands flew up to her eyes. "Oh, gross. Where was the warning?"

The Salvatore headed out of the library. "Don't need to since it's my house!" he called out, already upstairs. "Wait out at the car!"

The young Gilbert only shook her head even though he couldn't see her. "I need to change, too!"

"Too bad!"

There was no point in arguing with him. He was older and intimidating sometimes so she finally decided to follow his command, going outside and walking over to his blue Chevy Camaro convertible, the top was down. Since he wasn't out yet and he was being annoying so early in the morning, she slid across the hood, like how someone would do it in a movie. She landed on her feet with a laugh and got in the car. She expected Damon to be out by now, but for some reason, he was deciding to take his time. A sigh escaped out of her lips and she leaned against the car door, her head on her fist. It was then she got the sense that she wasn't alone but knew there wasn't _really_ anyone there. Emma shifted in her seat.

"What's up, Mason?" she asked, feeling very uneasy. "Um, I just wanted to say another sorry for Damon, you know, trying to punch you and also killing you. I actually think what you just did was kind of funny, 'cause, you did what he did to you." She chuckled awkwardly. "Also, because you were able to do what you did, I want to thank you for only snapping my neck and not killing me last night. I, uh, really appreciate it."

"Are you seriously talking to Mason?" Damon asked, making Emma jump in her seat. He opened the driver door and got in, starting the car immediately. "That son of a bitch turned me into a shish kabob."

"You did it to him."

Damon waved her off, driving down the rocky road. "Yeah, yeah. Details." He turned left, onto a residential road. "So, what were you saying to him?"

"Apologizing for your dumbness." she responded, tucking her hair behind her ear to keep it from flying everywhere in the wind.

"Whoa. I did what I did because Lockwood was in the way."

And Damon continued on and on about how terrible Mason was. Emma just stared off to the side, zoning his voice out. She watched families leave their homes with supplies to help set up for the Night of Illumination, a tradition that started many years ago by the founding families. She remembered the last time she made a paper lantern with her father. Every year they had always did some sort of theme and that year they decided to do outer space. So they glued on cutouts of stars, comets, and planets all over the lantern. Sadly, when it was time to release all the lanterns at the square, theirs was too heavy and it fell to the ground, catching on fire. They were both disappointed at first but ended up laughing their butts off.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. Emma smiled and looked straight ahead, only to squint to make use what she was seeing was right. Not that far down the road stood Elena and Stefan with some blonde girl she's never seen in her life. The car got closer and closer to the three and she realized that Damon wasn't going to stop.

"-that guy was trouble the moment he came to tow-"

"Damon, watch out!" Emma shouted, grabbing the steering wheel and turning it to the right.

"Shit!"

The car made a sharp turn, going over the curb and almost hitting a tree if Damon didn't slam on the brakes in time. She quickly got out of the car and made the move to run over to Elena when she halted. There was no one where she had seen her sister.

"What the hell?" Damon called out, opening his door and getting out of the car. "You almost destroyed my car."

Emma pointed where she'd seen everyone. "But I thought-"

She looked back at the Salvatore only to find herself in some sort of cave. It was hard to see anything, the jaggered rocked wall barely visible. A soft orange light lit up behind her. She turned toward the light and let out a gasp, seeing Mason Lockwood himself standing before her, examining a wall closely. He didn't seem to notice her as she moved closer to him. For a brief moment, she was able to see what was on the wall but the next time she blinked, she was met with Damon's face hovering over hers.

"What happened?" she asked, registering that she was laying on the asphalt.

"You tell me. Everything was fine before you decided to try to crash my car and then faint in the middle of the street." Damon explained, helping her up off the ground. "Did you have a vision."

Emma shook her head which was a bad move considering it was pounding like crazy. "Maybe. The last thing I remember was seeing Elena, Stefan, and a blonde girl over there and then . . . Mason." she said, her vision coming back to her. "He was in a cave or something and was looking at a wall with some weird markings. It was only for a second so I can't remember what it was."

"You saw Mason? In a cave?" Damon recited, clearly not understanding what she said. "How is that even possible if he's supposed to be a ghost?"

She shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? I'm not a ghost expert. Look, I have no idea what's going on, just like you."

Damon thought for a moment before heading back towards his car. "I know someone who might." he said. After Emma joined him in the car, he started the engine and drove until he found Caroline and Bonnie. "Greetings, Blondie. Witchy."

Emma smacked his arm. "They have names." she chastised as the other two came up to the car.

"Not my top priority since her voodoo wires got crossed when she got rid of Vicki Donovan."

This through Bonnie off. "What do you mean, why?" she asked, a concerned look appearing on her face.

"Because I'm pretty sure Emma's neck was snapped and I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost." Damon announced.

"What?"

Caroline crossed her arms. "And why would you think that?"

"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest." He shrugged and received an uneasy look from Caroline. "Let's just say I'm having déjà vu."

Caroline turned to Bonnie. "I thought you said that ghosts couldn't physically interact with people."

"They can't." Bonnie responded.

Damon interrupted. "Yeah, well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead."

"What he's trying to say," Emma interjected before Damon opened his mouth again. "is something happened last night and now Mason's back, somehow. So, please, find out before Mason tries to finish the job." she managed to get out just as Damon started to drive away. "Where are we going now?" she asked, seeing that he was going further into town.

"I need a drink." he simply said, his focus on the road.

Emma shook her head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. What if his spirit is with us right now? If we go to Mystic Grill, who knows what he'll do in public, cause it's not going to affect him."

"I need a drink."

He pulled up to the curb, parking right in front of the entrance. She got out, tensing when some people walked past her. She took out a piece of gum. The two entered the restaurant, the place packed with people due to the city event. After surveying the area quickly, she caught sight of Elena and Alaric, her sister heading to the bathrooms. She broke away from Damon and shoved past some people to catch up with her.

"Elena!" she called out, the older Gilbert stopping at the sound of her name. "Hey."

Elena turned and smiled. "Hey, I tried calling last night but I was sent to voicemail. Was everything alright?"

Emma laughed, scoffing her foot on the floor. "I, uh, was busy helping Damon clean up the mess Stefan made. What's been going on?"

"I'm getting Jeremy so find a way to contact Lexi. I think she could help us get Stefan to flip his humanity back on."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "And Lexi is?"

Elena realized her mistake. "Right. Lexi was Stefan's best friend and she always helped him when times got rough. She's dead, Damon killed her."

"Of course." Emma said, looking back at the said vampire who was sitting at the bar with Ric. "Well, if you're going to talk to Jer, I don't think I should go with you. The last time we talked. . . it was not good."

Elena reached out and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure whatever happened was nothing. Everything's fine." she reassured, tilting her head to the bathrooms. "Come on."

As much as she didn't want to, Emma ended following her sister down the hall to the bathrooms, already hearing Jeremy's voice through the walls but also someone else's. She had a hard time pin pointing who's voice it was.

Elena pushed opened the door to the bathroom. "Jeremy-"

Both the Gilbert girls eyes widened, seeing Anna standing by Jeremy's side. A sudden burst of anger flooded Emma, making her growl. Nothing could make her forget what Anna did to her: kidnapping her and using her as a blood bag for her decomposing mother. Emma shot forward, grabbing Anna by the throat and pinning her against the tiled wall.

" _You_." she snarled, Anna swatting at her hands.

"Emma, stop!" Jeremy yelled, pulling her back.

She turned to him. "You're protecting her?! After everything she did to us, you still care about her?"

Anna, rubbing her throat, held up a hand. "Listen, Emma. I know what I did and I'm so sorry."

"Sorry my ass." Emma hissed, eyes narrowed at the ghost.

Elena held her arm, pulling out her now ringing phone. "Em, calm down." she said, but Emma could hear anger laced in her voice. She pressed accept and brought the phone to her ear. "Yeah, Care."

" _So, it turns out there's a problem._ " Emma heard Caroline say from the receiver. " _When Bonnie sent Vicki back to the other side, other souls were able to come through this door she created into the real world._ "

Emma glanced at Anna with narrowed eyes.

" _The only way to get rid of them is for her to close that door._ "

"How do we do that?" Elena asked as Jeremy and Anna looked at each other nervously.

" _According to Grams and Jared-_ "

Emma's head snapped toward the phone.

"Wait, Jared?" Elena asked, looking at Emma. "As in your Jared? Why would he be there?"

"Who's Jared?" Jeremy voiced but the Gilbert sister's didn't acknowledge his question.

" _I guess he's an angel?_ "

Elena raised an eyebrow at Emma who gave her a sheepish smile. "Really? I didn't know that."

" _Yeah, well, he kind of appeared out no where wanting to help. With his help, we found out the old witch can draw power from this side because of her talisman._ "

"Talisman?" Elena questioned, pondering it over. "My necklace?"

" _It's come ju ju power source._ " Caroline explained. " _And I know you're not going to like this, but Bonnie needs to destroy it._ "

"I just walked in on Jeremy kissing the reason why I'm completely okay with that." Elena spat, going Emma in glaring at the other girl.

" _What? Are you serious?_ " Caroline asked, her voice lowering on her line.

Elena nodded. "Yeah. Look, I don't have the necklace. Damon has it."

Emma headed for the door. "I'll try to get him." she said, leaving the restroom and headed for the bar where she last saw the said vampire with Ric. She looked behind her for a second, resulting in her bumping into someone. "Oh, sorry." she apologized, staring up at the person. Her mouth fell open.

"Hey, Emma. Long time no see." Mason Lockwood greeted, leaning against the bar counter.

The Gilbert looked past his shoulder to see Damon with blood on his forehead and Ric with a drink in his hand. "H-hi. Um, Damon?"

Damon groaned, tapping on his phone's keypad. "Not now. There's too much on my mind. Damn necklace."

Mason reached in front of Damon, taking a shot glass. "One of you will pay for this, right?" He smiled, saluting the two older men. "Cheers."

Emma moved over to stand between Damon and Ric's stools.

"Let's get to it." Damon began, annoyance clear on his face. "I killed you. You want revenge. Get in line."

Mason leaned forward. "I want an apology."

Emma unconsciously let out a laugh as Ric choked on his drink. "Sadly, that's not going to happen." she said, slapping away Damon's hand as he tried to flick the side of her head.

"Don't you have a family to haunt?" Damon asked. "You know your nephew has turned into a mindless hybrid minion."

"That's why I'm here. To help Tyler." Mason revealed. Emma watched his face, searching for any sign to indicate that he was lying, and she found none. He really wasn't here to get Damon.

Damon scoffed, shaking his head. "Well, sorry to break it to you, but Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive. Which is, like, always."

"Well," Emma interjected. "There is, I mean, was something that could kill him or any original, but the Mikaelsons destroyed it all so that no one could use it against them."

Mason smiled at the girl. "Almost all of it." That threw her off.

"But there is no weapon that-" Damon stopped himself, making eye contact with the dead werewolf. "What do you know?"

Mason leaned closer to the three, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I know you need to apologize."

"You got to be kidding me."

"Damon, just apologize!" Emma exclaimed, slapping his arm with a good amount of her new vampire strength.

He grunted, and with a painful face, he opened his mouth. "You're right. I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do." he finished.

Emma sighed, closing her eyes. Why can't Damon just say the words 'I'm sorry' like a normal person?

Mason waited for Damon to continue but the vampire merely shrugged. He laughed, moving to leave. "That's good enough. Meet me at the old Lockwood cellar. Bring a shovel."

"What are you going to bury me alive?" Damon asked, only to have Mason look at him with a serious expression.

"Don't tempt me." And he left.

The young girl pulled out her phone, pointing outside. "I have to make a quick phone call. Don't leave without me." She walked away, ignoring Damon's response.

She opened the doors of Mystic Grill and stepped outside. Taking out her phone a dialing a certain someone's number, she brought her phone to her ear. It rang twice.

"Why are you with Bonnie and Caroline?" she immediately asked without a beat. "I thought you were saying that it wasn't a good idea to tell people about who you are."

" _Hello to you, too._ " Jared said, some shuffling happening on his end.

She rolled her eyes. "It was one thing to out yourself to Damon, but now to my friends and sister? That totally goes against with what you told me before."

" _Okay. My job is to be your guardian but when something happens that upsets the balance of nature, I have to help stop that and set things right_." Jared responded. " _I had no choice_."

Emma kicked at the ground, understanding what he said. "I guess that makes sense. It would have been nice to have been told about it."

A sigh. " _I'll try to remember that. Look, I gotta go, we're getting the necklace._ "

She face palmed her forehead. "Right. I was supposed to tell Damon."

" _It's fine. Caroline texted him but he didn't really say where it was. We're searching the boarding house. Oh, gotta go_."

Emma closed her phone after he hung up, putting it back in her pocket. It was weird knowing that now Jared was really involved in her life, more than he was before. He was always the boy she had a crush on. Now, he was her guardian angel who helps out when everything goes to hell. Nothing was the same anymore.

The girl turned and headed toward Damon's car, speeding up her pace when she saw him trying to drive off without her. She literally hopped in the car as he was backing out of the space.

"Damn it." he muttered, putting the car into drive.

Emma smiled over to him. "What? Did you think you were going without me?"

The Salvatore sighed, the wind blowing his short hair back. "I almost got away but with your new super speed, I couldn't get away fast enough."

* * *

Emma held the shovel Damon handed her, inspecting it. "Should I be worried that you have a shovel in your trunk?"

Damon slammed the trunk hood down. "You gotta be prepared in case you need to bury another body."

The girl grimaced, heading over to the entrance of the Lockwood cellar. It was very hot in the woods, where there was no cover from the sun. She was mad at herself for not changing out of the jeans she wore for the bonfire. Her legs needed to breathe.

Damon joined her and they both went down the stone steps, entering the main part of the cellar. Mason was already there, lighting three lanterns.

"I'm surprised you showed." he said, blowing out the fire on the match in his hand.

"You put a snag in my only other Klaus lead. So I'd say I'm highly motivated." Damon explained, grabbing a lantern Mason offered.

"Mikael?"

Emma looked up at Damon, confused. "Mikael? Why does that name sound familiar?" she voiced, replaying through her memories to figure out where she heard that name. She had no luck.

"He's the plan that didn't work out." Mason said, taking the shovel from her.

"How do you know so much?" Damon asked, watching as Mason moved over to a brick wall.

"There's not much to do on the other side but sit around and watch other people screw things up."

Emma walked over to Mason, her lanterns lighting up a small part of the wall. "What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?"

"There's an old Lockwood legend about a weapon that can kill an original vampire." He swung the shovel against the wall, some debris flying in the air. "Like the rest of their secrets, they kept it buried."

Mason swung again, but Damon reached out for the shovel. "Oh, just give me the thing." he said. Getting into position, he slammed the shovel against the wall many times, the wall crumbling to the ground.

Emma went over to the opening Damon made, peering over his shoulder. She saw a pathway that lead to who knows where, but she had a strange feeling about it, like she had already been there.

"Go on." Mason urged Damon, gesturing toward the path.

Damon looked at him. "You first."

The young girl pushed past the two bickering guys. "Oh, my god. You two are so annoying." she said, stepping through the opening.

Holding up the lantern, she used it to light the way to avoid tripping on anything that was sticking up from the ground. She ran her hand along to walls, recognizing the atmosphere and curves of the rocks. She snuck a glance at Mason, taking in his clothing which was a simple button up long sleeve and jeans. It just happened to be what he wore in her vision.

"I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop." Damon said behind her. "Your motives are deceptively pure."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Damon? Why do you always think everyone is out to get you?"

She could tell he shrugged. "Can't be too careful."

"You talk the talk, but I know you'll do anything for your brother. You won't screw me over as long as we have the same agenda." Mason said, just as Emma came to a stop at a split of the pathway.

"I'm supposed to believe you're not going to screw me over?" Damon asked, Mason chuckling in response.

The two joined her at the split. "Which way?" she asked, cautiously looking down both paths.

"I don't know. Flip a coin." Mason suggest.

"Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing?" Damon asked.

Mason just stared at the vampire. "I'm a ghost, not God." He pointed to the left. "Go left."

Emma nodded, starting to head down the path when Damon decided to go in the opposite direction. "Damon, come on."

"You have trust issues. Anyone ever tell you that?" Mason commented just as Damon made the wrong step.

Coming out of the walls, multiple wooden stakes impaled Damon. He screamed out in pain, dropping his lantern and trying to rip the stakes out of him, only to hiss from the vervain laced on the weapons.

Emma only shook her head, disappointed. Mason made the move to leave, but she held her hand up to stop him, knowing he wasn't going to abandon Damon. She handed him her lantern then went over to the trapped vampire.

"You couldn't just have trusted him?" she asked, seeing Damon's pained face.

"Like I said before-"

"I don't care." she interrupted, backing up to give herself enough space. She kicked at the center of the stakes, breaking each and every one of them. Once they all were broken, they were still in him. "Do you think you could get those?" she asked Mason.

He nodded and tore the stakes out, Damon groaning each time.

"What's your deal, man? I killed you. I jammed my fist into your chest. I ripped your heart out. There's no way this whole buddy-trust act is real." Damon asked, leaning up against the rocked way when Mason was done.

Mason tossed the last stake to the ground. "You know what the other side is like? We're all alone. We watch the people we left behind and we regret our decisions. That's it." Mason said, moving down the path. "Look, I can't change what happened to me, but maybe I ca change what happens to Tyler. I don't need revenge, Damon. I need redemption." And with that, he continued down the path.

Emma frowned at Damon before following Mason. Damon always has a hard time trusting anybody, if it's an old friend or if it's just someone who's generously offering their help. He just assumes everyone is out to get him. If he kept that up, he'd end up all alone.

The three kept walking down the path for a few minutes before Emma could see it leading to an open area. She and Damon followed behind Mason only to be stopped by an invisible wall. They both tried to push through but something was holding them back.

"God! This is not happening." Damon said, hitting the space.

Mason looked back at them. "What now?"

Emma held her hand up to the invisible wall. "We can't get through."

"It's like we're not invited in. Wait."

"I'm not stopping just 'cause you're stuck. I'll let you know what I find." Mason said, looking around the area. "Looks like you're going to have to trust me."

Emma watched him wave the lantern around to see when it hit her. They were in the exact same place as she was in her vision. "Mason. Don't move." she instructed, doing her best to remember which wall had the markings. "You need to look at the wall." She pointed to the wall next she and Damon.

"Is this from your vision?" he asked. She nodded and he did what she told him, awe transforming his face.

"What did you find?" Damon asked, trying to look.

Mason held his lantern higher. "It's-" He stopped, going blank. His lantern fell to the floor.

"No, no, no. Where'd you go?" Damon called out, looking around but Mason was no where to be seen. "Mason!"

Emma leaned against the wall. "Bonnie destroyed the necklace. All of the spirits were sent back to the other side. What do we do now?" she asked. If only she could remember the symbols.

Damon took out his phone. "I'll text Alaric." He pressed buttons. "There. Hopefully he gets here fast."

"And what if he doesn't?" she questioned, looking up at him. "Clearly he's angry with you. I've been gone for a while so I don't know what you did, but I know you have not made an attempt to make things right with him. And he was your actual real friend which I'm sure you haven't had in a long time."

"I thought you were my friend."

She shrugged. "I am but you gotta trust people. Mason could have been your friend but you saw him as a threat. Don't lose Ric. If you do, then you'll only have a 13 year old as a friend, and that's kind of sad." Emma studied his face, hoping that what she said had gone through to him.

Damon pointed down the way they came. "I'm going to wait at the entrance for him." he said, leaving her alone.

She watched him leave, praying that he follows her words of advise. She stayed where she was, waiting for Damon to come back with Ric. She heard the vampire hunter enter the cellar and listened to their conversation. A smile formed on her face when she heard Damon's lame attempt at an apology but Alaric thankfully accepted it and soon, they joined her. Damon rolled his eyes when he saw her knowing smile. Alaric went past them into the open area and looked at the wall.

"So, was Mason screwing with me, or is there something in there?" Damon asked from next to her.

"I found something." Alaric said, fascination on his face. "And I have no idea what it is."

* * *

 **And that's the update! How's everyone's summer going?! I know that everyone has different last day of schools but I'm sure by now everyone is out. I'm in Pennsylvania at the moment so I'm trying my best to find time to write since we're trying to do so many things but I'm pretty sure I can squeeze one more update before I have to get on a plane to head back home.**

 **Don't forget to comment on your thoughts of today's update! I love hearing from you all!**

 **I hope you all have a wonderful day and see you in the next update! 3**


	4. Ordinary People

Emma stood on her toes, peeping through the bars of the metal door. She was on Stefan duty while Elena went with Alaric and Damon to check out the markings on the cave wall.

After giving Alaric some time to study them, he said that the markings were pictures, drawn to tell the story of werewolves and vampires. There were names written in viking dialect on the walls, four of which they recognized to be Niklaus, Elijah, Rebekah, and Mikael. Courtesy of Damon, he explained to Emma that Mikael was their father and the original vampire vampire hunter (yes vampire vampire). Emma had remembered the conversation she had with Elijah explaining how Mikael hated Klaus with a passion because he wasn't really his son. And because he was an abomination, Mikael made it his life's mission to end Klaus' life.

Damon had also explained that Katherine was in charge of waking up Mikael, who was chained in some cemetery, but she was unsuccessful. He hadn't heard anything from her.

Stefan groaned, shifting in the chair he was chained to, but didn't wake up. She continued to watch him from behind the door. Unbeknownst to her at the time, when she left with Damon and Mason in search for the weapon to kill Klaus, Elena and Lexi had teamed up to try to get Stefan to flip on his humanity by locking him up in the secret vampire cell underneath the city jail where Caroline's father had tortured her. Lexi said that the only way to bring Stefan back was to deprive him of blood and make him feel emotions. So far, there has been little progress.

"You know, watching people is a little creepy." Stefan commented, his head still hanging down.

Emma set her mouth in a hard line, unlocking the door and entering the cell. "I don't have a choice. I need to watch you."

Stefan chuckled, lifting his head up, giving her a full view of his pale and sweaty face. "You don't have to. You could, I don't know, let me go and you can go do whatever teenage vampires do."

"Elena said you'd try to anything to get out." she said, sitting on the ground in front of him. "Too bad nothing you say will convince me to break the chains."

The Salvatore tugged at them. "Don't you ever do anything on your own? You're what some people call a pushover."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Whatever big sister says has to happen, baby Gilbert agrees."

Emma shook her head, resting her head on her fist. "Wow. You go straight for the jugular."

"And just because you're a vampire now, doesn't mean you're invincible. Your newly found confidence won't protect you when I could easily rip your heart out in a second." Stefan swallowed, leaning forward the best he could. "You're pathetic. Useless. A waste of space."

"At least I'm not the one tied to a chair." she said, smirking. She pulled out her phone, checking the time. It was only ten in the morning. She set it down next to her. "You could make this go a lot faster if you'd just flip your switch back on."

Stefan smiled back, obviously fake. "If you knew how freeing it is not to feel, you'd never flip it back."

"Having emotions is normal, Stefan. It's what keeps us human."

"That's the thing, you and I, we're not human."

Emma looked into his eyes, trying to at least find some evidence of the old Stefan she remembered. Nothing was there. His eyes were just blank. Her phone vibrated, Damon's number flashing on the screen.

She pressed answer. "Are you guys almost done?"

" _Don't worry, pipsqueak. It's my shift soon. How's my little bro?_ "

Stefan grinned at the mention of himself. "He's emotionless as always. How'd it go with Elena?"

" _Well, she's heading over to the school to ask Barbie Klaus about the drawings._ "

"And you let her go alone?" Emma asked, noticing the way Stefan shifted in the chair. It's not like he genuinely cared about her safety. She knew it was only because Klaus compelled him to protect Elena.

" _You think your sister listens to anything I say? I'm almost there. Just hold on._ "

She ended the call, putting her phone in her pocket. "I hate to say our time together is about to end, Stef."

"Aw, man. That's too bad. I just loved our time together."

Emma rolled her eyes, getting up. She brushed off the dirt on her legs and headed toward the door. "Ditto." she said, closing the door and locking it.

The door above opened and Damon came walking down the spiral staircase. He was getting off the phone.

"It's about time you got here." Emma said, her back leaning against the door.

Damon patted her head, looking through the bars of the door. "Didn't know you missed me that much."

"Don't get your hopes up." she replied, her phone ringing again. She took it out and saw a text message from Jared. "Well, I leave you to it. Careful, he's on a mission to hurt your feelings." she warned.

"Who said I had any?"

Emma laughed, jogging up the staircase and out the side door of the city jail. The sun was shining bright above, making her squint. She looked back at her phone and read Jared's text.

 _Meet me at Mystic Grill._

The request left her puzzled but still, she decided to go to the restaurant. She quickly crossed the street and entered the place. There weren't that many people, the lunch rush not starting till noon. Because of this, it was easy to spot the brown headed angel sitting alone at a booth, a plate with some bacon placed on the table. She went over to him and slid into the cushioned seat.

"Yes?" Emma asked, reaching over and taking a piece bacon for herself.

Jared set his coffee mug down. "I didn't really expect you to come."

"And why's that."

The angel shrugged. "You know, because I told people about me being what I am."

Emma finished the last bit of the bacon. "Look, it was not my thing to tell and I get it. You had to do your job. I wasn't mad. Just surprised is all."

Jared smiled brightly, happiness radiating off of him. "Great! I-I guess I worried over nothing."

"So, is that all you wanted to talk about?" she asked, ready to get out of the booth.

He quickly shook his head. "No, it's not. I was thinking of having weekly meetings for me to check in and see how your new life is going and if you really need help or not." he said, taking out a notebook and a pen.

"Okay, then. I'll give you the short version: I've limited myself to three pieces of gum a day, my brother fell in love with a ghost who had kidnapped me once, wait twice, one of my friends is locked up in an old vampire cell, and there may be no way to killing Klaus." Emma informed, eating the last strip of bacon.

She watched him scribble somethings down and even with her vampire vision, she could not read what he wrote. Was it even English?

"Maybe I should make it daily." Jared muttered, writing a few more things down. "And how are you feeling?"

"Um, fine."

Jared looked up from his notebook. "No. I meant, how are you feeling after _that night_?" he corrected.

Emma took a second to comprehend what he meant but caught on quick. "O-oh. You mean that. I-I, uh. . . don't know. Can we not talk about it?" She reached over and chugged the rest of the room temperatured coffee, her hand shaking.

The truth was, she tried her best not to think about that night, which was difficult with the smell of blood reminding her. Her dreams didn't help either, forcing her to relive that moment. She could still remember the high she felt, the power. There she was, a short thirteen year old, stronger than two adults. In less than three minutes, she was able to take their lives without breaking a sweat. And she loved it.

"You can't just suppress how you feel." Jared reasoned, setting.

"Jared. Stop."

"Emma, no. If you hold down how you feel, you'll end up exploding. Just t-"

"I said, I don't want to talk about it!" Emma slammed the mug down, the glass shattering in her hands.

Jared jumped and the people who were eating breakfast cast their gazes over to them. Emma trembled, exhaling deeply. She brushed off some glass that fell on her lap.

"I-I'm going to go." she stammered out, scrambling out of the booth.

Emma ignored Jared's protests and the curious stares from all around. She threw open the entrance door and turned to her right, going down the alley between the restaurant and another building. Her heart pounded a million miles a second. She used the palm of her hands to lean against the brick wall, bowing her head. God, why did he have to say anything? Why couldn't he have just left her alone?

She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to hit something. Emma backed away from the wall and turned to the dumpster to the left. Marching over to it, she formed her hand into a fist and swung forward. A bomb rang through the alley, the punch sending vibrations through her arm and leaving a large dent on the side of the dumpster. It was liberating feeling, so she did it again. And again. And again until her fist smashed through the side, the metal scraping her arm. Emma pulled her arm back, blood dripping down the scratches and her knuckles.

"Emma." Jared's calm and even voice came up behind her, but she kept her back to him. "Are you alright?"

Alright? She whirled around, nostrils flared. "Am I alright? I don't know, Jared, am I? Clearly, I was _alright_ inside when I broke the mug and this!" she exclaimed, holding up her healed arm. "You just couldn't shut up and leave me alone about the whole thing."

"You can't keep something like that buried deep down."

"I was doing just fine pretending it didn't happen before you brought it up! You think I want to remember that I took the lives of two people?" Her voice cracked, warm tears streaming down her face.

She clutched her fists, digging her nails deep into her palms. "The way I compelled them shut up and stay still so that I could easily tear through the skin of their necks. The way I loved it. The way I wanted-want to do it again. I-I-"

She couldn't find anymore words to say. Tears clouded her vision, Jared's figure becoming blurred. Blood pounded in her ears. Breathing was hard. Very hard. It was as if she was a fish out of water, gasping for air. Her chest tightened. Her feet tingled, like she was standing on pins and needles. She dropped to her knees, grasping at her chest as she cried harder.

She wasn't sure when Jared made his way over to her but she felt him wrap his arms around her shaking body. She barely heard him say everything was okay. But she knew it wasn't. Nothing was okay. Nothing could erase what she did.

Out of nowhere, her head grew light and she could hardly keep her eyes open. She felt Jared place his hand on her forehead, whispering words she couldn't even hear. Soon, darkness surrounded her and she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Emma wasn't sure how long she was asleep for, but when she woke up, she found herself in a bedroom that certainly wasn't hers. It was pretty bare, the only pieces of furniture was the twin bed she had been sleeping in and a dresser. And on the walls was a poster of some lively meadow: flowers, trees, dry grass everywhere. And there was a single window, letting in a beam of sunlight.

The bedroom door opened, Jared entering in with a wooden tray that had a blue cup and a blood bag on it.

"Oh, you're awake." he said, placing the tray down on top of the dresser.

Emma rubbed her eyes, sleep still weighing her down. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Well, I used my magic to help you sleep and I brought you here, to my apartment." He grabbed the blood bag, twisting the cap off and pouring the contents in the cup.

"Apartment?" she questioned, watching him from the bed. "I thought angels live in heaven?"

Jared shrugged, setting the bag back down. "I don't really use it. This is the only bedroom. I just have it to come and think every once in a while." he replied. "Here," He turned toward the girl and handed her the cup. "You need to have something in your system, and since food doesn't affect you, well, this is just as good."

She took it from him, peering into the cup. Tilting it up, she let the thick fluid hit her lips, swallowing a good amount. He was right, the blood did help, but she had to stop herself short, unsure if she could handle the whole thing.

"Thanks." Emma said, holding the cup in her lap. "I'm sorry. About what happened back there." Her fingers turned white from how hard she squeezed the cup.

The angel made his over to her and sat next to her, the bed dipping down from his weight. "Don't apologize. I shouldn't have pushed you. And for that, I'm sorry."

Emma shook her head. "No, no. You were right. I've been trying so hard to keep it out of my mind. I tell myself that if I don't think about it, it didn't happen. But it did happen. And I can't take it back." She took one more sip before handing the cup back to Jared.

"I could, uh, actually never mind." he quick said, getting up and picking up the tray.

"Wait, what were you going to say?" Emma asked, shuffling off the bed.

He shook his head, keeping his back to her. "Forget about it. It's stupid anyways."

She reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him to face her. "Jared, please."

He sighed. "Okay. Well, I was going to say that I can help you kind of forget about it. Not forget it happened, but the feeling you get when you think about it."

Emma's eyebrows furrowed together. What was he talking about? "I don't get it. How are you going to make me not feel anything?"

He wiggled his fingers. "Angel magic."

The whole idea gave the young girl a strange feeling. "I don't know. Aren't you still new at this whole thing?"

Jared nodded in agreement. He was not supposed to agree. "I am new at being a guardian angel, but not at using magic." He guided her back to the bed. "It's pretty simple to do, but it's a long and tough process."

She stood still, looking at him as he waited for her to respond. It was risky. Was it a good idea to rip the emotions she'd feel from a memory? What would that do to her? Would she be empty inside? Would it change who she was?

"Is it safe?" she finally asked, rubbing her forearms.

He grabbed her shoulders and gazed into her green eyes. "I wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't safe. I just thought you wouldn't do it because of what it does."

After pondering it over a little bit longer, Emma agreed. He instructed her to lay on the bed the opposite way so the angel could stand at the end. She had joked if he needed any candles, earning a flick on her forehead. Jared closed the curtains of the window, claiming that the sunlight would interfere with the process. He placed his hands on both sides of her head, not touching her hair. Emma stared straight up at the ceiling, barely seeing the soft glow coming from his hands before darkness completely consumed her sight.

In an instant, she found herself outside, the moon above her providing some light. Looking left to right, she saw that either side of her were brick walls with garbage all over the ground. There was something oddly familiar about where she was. For some reason, she felt herself move forward, even though she had no intention of doing so. It was as if she had no control of her body.

" _Was that girl watching us_?" she heard, the female voice so familiar that she would have stopped walking in shock if she could.

" _Probably. What a creeper._ " the man's voice said after, just like she remembered. His words sent a feeling of annoyance through her.

" _Hey, is your hand good? Want me to kiss it better?"_

" _Ha. And what? Do you want to suck on it like a vampire, too?"_

This could not have been happening. Was this what Jared meant about this being long and tough? She had to relive the whole moment just to feel better? Her head turned back to the couple behind her, the man smirking at his girlfriend.

" _Only if you want me to."_

Just like before, she flashed over to the couple, throwing the man back just as the girl screamed upon seeing her face, on cue.

" _Don't make a noise. Don't move and give me your hand._ " Emma had said, the girl following orders.

The vampire held the hand and bit down on it, the warm iron-like liquid sending chill through her body. She felt the need for more but the guy stole her attention when he said, " _O-oh, my god._ "

Her lips stretched to a smile, feeling herself walk over to him. " _Yeah, he's kind of my friend._ "

" _You're fucking craz-_ "

She grabbed him by the neck and bit down on at the nape, blood dripping down her chin. His blood was better than the girl's. Or was it the girl's that tasted better? She drained every drop from the man, his body falling limp to the ground. She turned back to the frozen girl and went back to her, drinking from her neck as well.

The girl's body fell and a bubble of laughter filled her. She couldn't stop laughing and staring at the two people she just killed. It was difficult for her to stop. The power she felt consumed her, she could do anything. But that feeling was short lived, just like before. The sight of the girl's dulls eyes changed everything. Tears slowly flowed down her cheeks as realization hit her. She committed an unforgivable act that she could never take back.

Her chest tightened as a sob rippled through her body. It was agonizing having to redo all of this. Her knees buckled and she dropped to the floor.

" _Oh, no. Oh, my god! What did I do?!_ " she heard herself scream, hands holding her head.

Her breathing became irregular and her vision became hazy. Next thing she knew, her gaze met with Jared's blue eyes.

"Hey." he said, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

Emma opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for water. She brought her hand up and felt her tear stained cheek. "What was that?" she asked, sitting up.

Jared collapsed next to her, his breathing being heavy. "That was the memory. You had to go through it, to feel everything you did when it happened." he explained. "Go ahead. Think about it."

Emma scratched her head and made herself think back. She remembered everything as if she was experiencing it a third time. Only now, it was just like watching a boring tv-show. There wasn't a pang of guilt, sadness, fear, or desire. It was liberating.

"I-I don't feel anything." she admitted, going over it again with the same result. "I think it worked."

"I hope it did cause I am drained." Jared said, covering his eyes with his arm. "You can crash here if you want. I can sleep on the couch."

The vampire got up from the bed, heading to the window. She pulled back the curtains, expecting to be blinded by sunlight, only to be met with the dark sky. "How long was I in there?"

"F-ive ho-urs." Jared yawned and the girl looked at him, seeing he was in no mood to move.

Emma knew she needed to go. The angel had done so much for her and he needed his rest. She tip toed out of the bedroom, entering the living room and connecting kitchen. Like his room, it was bare, with only a couch and coffee table. She crossed the room and left the apartment, hitting the street.

It was strange, only seven minutes ago she was waking up in Jared's apartment and now it was already nighttime. She pulled out her phone, the screen showing a few missed call and texts. She put the device away, not feeling in the mood to talk to anyone. Using her vampire speed, she vamped to back to the boarding house.

The sound of weeping caught her attention. The young girl headed straight to the living room to see Rebekah on the floor in tears. She looked at the original before leaving, not bothering to say anything to her. She went vamped up to her room, changing and getting into bed.

Laying in bed, she realized something. Something was missing but she had no idea what. A part of her didn't want to worry about it, wanting to just brush it off, but she couldn't help but stay awake the whole night, pondering over it.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry for taking so long and sorry for a sucky ending. I tried my best to make it good enough but I also wanted to get something out for you guys. You are the best for being so patient.**

 **See you in the next update! 3**


	5. Homecoming

She thought that after what Jared did for her, she'd be able to sleep at night without a worry, but she ended up doing the exact opposite. All she could do was think of that night, over and over again. Throughout the whole night, she just laid there. She had heard Stefan and Damon come back to the house but she stayed where she was, like she didn't have the energy to get up.

Emma eventually got out of bed and changed into something comfortable, heading down stairs. Her throat slightly burned so the first place she went to was the kitchen to get a bag of blood from the refrigerator. She had just grabbed a glass from the cabinet when she found a man in a gray suit standing by the island, staring at her.

"Who are you?" she asked, twisting the cap off and squeezing the liquid into the glass.

The man seemed oddly familiar: the shape of his nose, his caramel hair, the blue eyes, the way he held himself.

"My name is Mikael. I'm sure you've heard about me." he said with a thick Scottish accent, arms behind his back.

 _So this was supposed to be the feared vampire vampire hunter_ , she thought as she observed the man. He did have something about him that said 'back off' with his stone, hard face. At least, that's what it seemed.

"Yeah, I guess I've heard about you. Klaus is scared of you." she mentioned, taking a sip from the glass. "Aren't you supposed to be chained in a coffin or something?"

Mikael chuckled. "I was, thanks to my nuisance of a son." he said, his mood turning sour.

Emma took another sip, her eyebrow arching up a bit. "Not going to argue with that. So what, is this the case of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'? You're here to help us kill him?"

"Yes it is." Damon answered, joining the two in the kitchen. "We've come up with a master plan to get Klaus here to do the deed."

"How? He probably won't believe anything you say."

Damon smiled, nodding toward the direction of the living room and library. "If you follow me, baby bro Stefan will explain."

Finishing the last of the blood and placing the empty glass in the sink, Emma trailed behind the Salvatore to the library where Elena and Stefan were already conversing.

"Alright, we'll say that Mikael followed you in here. He tried to grab you so he could use you as bait." Stefan explained, gesturing around him.

"And you, what, vervained him?" Elena questioned.

Damon rolled his eyes. "No, we vervained him. The guy's an original. Make it realistic."

"Okay, fine. We vervained him and in the process discovered that he had a dagger."

"Which he planned to use on Rebekah. But instead-"

"We drove it through his heart." Stefan finished after Elena. It was weird, even though the two were no longer together, they always finished each other's sentences.

Emma stepped forward. "What do we do when Klaus wants to see the body? Stefan and I can't just lie to him without there being actual proof."

Mikael entered the room with a small vial and a cloth in his hands. "Then I shall be dead."

"What if he wants to see your body in person?" Elena asked.

"Well, it means our plan is working." Mikael said, hands in his pockets. "Klaus will absolutely want to see my body. You lure him here, and I will kill him."

Stefan scoffed, shaking his head. "With what? That dagger won't work on him."

Mikael began to open up the cloth, taking out the said dagger. "I am in possession of a stake fashioned from the wood of the ancient white oak tree. The one that left these ashes when it burned. It's not here, before you ask. Know its location is my insurance policy." He held the dagger and dipped the blade in the ashes.

"Against what?" Stefan asked.

"You leaving this in my heart. You see, a vampire can't dagger an original without dying. So," the original hunter turned to Elena. "it falls to you." He placed it in her hands.

The doppelganger took it, shock written on her face. "You want me to actually dagger you?"

"Klaus will leave nothing to chance. Especially when it comes to trust."

"Can we just do it already?" Emma said, leaning against the railing to the small set of stairs with her arms crossed. "This is taking too long."

Everyone sent her puzzled look from her outburst but nonetheless got into position. Since both Emma and Stefan were compelled to comply to Klaus' orders, they had to watch Mikael be daggered in order to be able to tell Klaus they had stopped him. Once Mikael was on the floor, all gray and "dead", Stefan dialed Klaus' number, notifying him what just happened. Of course, the hybrid didn't believe him, asking exactly what happened, but they were losing him.

Everything turned around when Rebekah took the phone to confirm it. It turned out the night before, Elena and the original had a heart to heart moment, Rebekah finding out the truth of her mother's death. The news was enough to get her on their side. Emma knew he would have never thought his own sister would betray him like that and she was right. He took the bait and Mikael was undaggered.

Rebekah was left to keep an eye on Mikael and Elena went back home, leaving the young girl to help out with the weapons with Damon.

"You good, pipsqueak?" Damon asked as they carried large black gym bags full of weapons his room. "You've been acting a little strange."

Emma shrugged, tossing the bag on Damon's bed. She unzipped the top and began taking out stakes. "Peachy."

"Are you sure?" he pushed, following her actions. "Just yesterday you were laughing and today you're acting like a moodless teenager."

"Stop, Damon. I'm fine." she said, setting vervain grenades down on a table that was set in the center of the room.

He placed two loaded shotguns down, stopping to watch the girl. "That, right there. The way you're talking. It's almost like, like Stefan." He paused for a moment, pondering over his own words.

"Before you say it, no, my humanity is not off." Emma reassured, going back to the bag. "I'm perfectly fine."

Damon still watched her but ended up doing the same, unloading the weapons on the table. She wasn't sure why he was pestering her so much. She was acting like she always had, at least that's what she thought.

Soon, Elena joined them and helped out.

"We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us." she began, tinkering with a vervain bottle.

"Oh really? Because those original vampires are usually so reliable." Damon joked, having prepared a batch of wolfsbane water in the sink of his bathroom.

"Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now, but he is her brother."

Emma moved onto the stakes to make sure they were properly sharpened. "Yeah, a brother that killed her mother." she commented.

"Wolsfbane is ready." Damon announced, leaving the bathroom to check on other things.

"There are too many things that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people can make it go wrong." Elena said, taking empty bottles to the bathroom to fill them with wolfsbane.

"Well, I am formulating a secret contingency plan."

The young girl sighed, turning the the other vampire. "Seriously? And what would the plan be?"

"It won't be a secret if I tell you."

He placed a finger on his lips just as Stefan entered the room.

"I need to borrow a tie."

Damon pointed at his brother then up toward Stefan's room. "You have your own ties. Use them."

"I'm one hundred and sixty-two years old and I'm going to a homecoming dance. I need better ties." Stefan explained as if it was a valid reason.

Elena shrugged. "You could not go."

"I'm compelled to protect you. And if I look at your track record at high school dances, it's pretty tragic. My luck you'll go ahead and get yourself murdered by the homecoming queen." he said, leaving to grab a tie from Damon's closet.

Elena tried to put together a grenade, but Damon took it out of her hands, claiming that if it went off, only one of them can't heal.

"Please tell me our plan doesn't rely on wolfsbane grenades." Stefan pleaded, now holding two nice black ties.

"Never you mind, brother. The less you know, the better."

Stefan stood before the large mirror, comparing the two ties. "My freedom, sorry our freedom," he added, glancing at the young girl. "from Klaus rests entirely upon you two executing your plan perfectly. Excuse me if I'm a bit cynical."

"You're the one that we should be worried about." Elena said. "If Klaus asks you one wrong question, whole thing falls apart."

Stefan pondered it over. "You do have a reason to worry. But if I look back at our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way."

"At least we avoid killing ourselves that way." Emma pointed out, taking some of the finished grenades away.

"Considering the odds, I know it's not going to be me who screws it up. See you at homecoming." he said, waving bye and leaving.

* * *

Emma left the boarding house sometime later, once all the weapons were accounted for. Since the whole plan was going to happen at their school homecoming, she needed a dress. She went to this boutique in town square and bought a soft pink medium length dress. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was better than nothing.

Wearing the dress with a pair of flats and a coat, she made her way to the school only to be met with complaining teens and the fire department. She found Caroline, anger and annoyance plastered on her face.

"Caroline." Emma called out, gaining the other girl's attention. "What happened here?"

Caroline let out sigh. "The gym is flooded! I mean, out of all the days of the year, it just had to rain _today_."

"That's too bad." the younger girl pointed out, taking the moment to watch the firemen set up a blockade around the school.

"Well, it's not over yet. I just talked to Tyler and told Elena that the party is being moved to his house. I don't know how it'll work out but," Caroline put on a smile. "who knows? Come on, everyone is leaving."

Emma followed her to the line of yellow school buses that the party goers were filing into. It didn't take long for the buses to make it to the Lockwood mansion, people already going in and out of the place. The air was filled with loud music playing from the backyard and the stench of alcohol. Entering the house, the girl say many teens holding red solo cups, mingling with each other.

"How did he plan a better party than me so fast?" Caroline asked, but it wasn't a question Emma could answer. "Is that a band outside?"

Bonnie had joined the two at the front door. "Who are all these people?"

Caroline shrugged, clearly confused. "This is weird. Where is Tyler?" And she stomped away in search of her boyfriend.

Emma left Bonnie where she was and headed toward the backyard, pushing past people as she neared the door. On her way, there was a large bucket filled with ice cold beer bottles and she grabbed one, using her thumb to flick the bottle cap off. She took a sip, surveying the backyard. Ahead of her was a long, big stage, a band playing music, and a huge crowd of people rocking out. She didn't recognize half the people who were there, unsure if they even went to her school at all.

She let out a dry laugh, gulping more beer down as she watched a familiar face walk across the stage to the lead singer's microphone.

"Good evening, everyone!" Klaus greeted, the crowd cheering for the hybrid. "I want to thank you all for being here with me to celebrate. It's been a long time coming."

He made eye contact with someone in the center of the crowd before walking off stage, the band taking over again, and when Emma followed his gaze, she saw the back of Stefan's head. She moved forward, her feet sinking a bit in the soggy grass.

"Enjoying the party?" Jared asked, blocking her path.

Emma took a sip. "I guess. Why are you staring at me like that?"

Jared's blue eyes gazed deep into her green ones as if he was looking for something in them. "Oh, god." he said after some time, sadness clouding his features.

"What?"

"I messed up. I didn't mean to. I just-"

Emma shook her head, holding her hand up to stop the angel. "You're not making any sense right now and if I'm being honest, I don't care. Now, if you'll excuse me." She shoved past him, heading over to Stefan.

"Where's mine?" he asked, gesturing to her beer bottle.

She purposely took another swig. "They ran out."

Klaus made their way over to the two.

"Quite the homecoming." Stefan commented once Klaus was directly in front of them.

"I've been planning my father's funeral for a thousand years. Granted, in no version of it were any of these people invited. But you get the idea."

"Since dear old daddy is dead now, are you going to stop running?" Emma inquired, someone shouting loudly behind her.

"Now I reunite my family."

The girl raised a brow. "The family that hates your guts? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"Mikael's gone, love. Bygones will be bygones." A girl with a tiara on her head past by, Klaus eyeing her. "I see the homecoming queen is still alive which leaves me to believe Rebekah isn't here. Where is she?"

The other two vampires shrugged.

"No idea. I thought she was with Matt." Stefan replied.

Klaus seemed unconvinced, his eyes narrowed toward the two. "Oh, be honest now. Where's my sister?"

"I said, I have no idea. Now, would you like us to take you to your father?" Stefan asked, pointing to the house.

The hybrid smirked. "It wouldn't be a party without the guest of honor, would it?"

Stefan vamped off to 'get Mikael's body' after Klaus then said he wouldn't go to the boarding house. She didn't blame him for being cautious in case they had some plan to kill him, which of course they did.

Her bottle was almost empty, so she left the hybrid in search for another. She was just finishing the last bit when she choked on it due to an excruciating pain in her head. The Gilbert fell forward on the patio steps, beer dripping down her chin.

She saw a flash of an image. A body on the ground, up in flames. Another one entered her mind of Damon by the body and someone coming up behind him, ramming their fist in his back and tearing out his heart.

Emma gasped once the pounding in her head was gone. She felt a pair of hands grasp her shoulders, helping her up from the steps.

"Let go of me. I'm fine." she said, pushing the person away.

"Emma, stop. I'm just helping you. What happened to you?"

The girl looked at Jared, a panicked expression on his face. "I had a vision of- of us actually defeating Klaus but Damon ended up dying, too." She paused, thinking it over for a second. "That'll be too bad."

Jared's face transformed, the panic turning into disbelief. "What did you just say?"

"I said 'that'll be too bad'." she repeated, continuing her way to some source of beer. "Wasn't the keg over here?"

The angel grabbed her shoulders again, forcing her to face him and stay in place. "God, you don't even realize what's wrong with you!"

"Spit it out, guardian." Emma caught sight of the keg and broke free from him, taking a solo cup from the top of the stack and using the tap to fill it up.

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Yo-you, okay. When I did that thing before, to help you not feel anything when you think about what you did, something went wrong. I took away _all_ of your emotions."

"What do you mean? I'm feeling pretty annoyed right now."

"And yet you didn't feel anything when you say Damon die. You even said 'that'll be too bad'. Who says that when someone close to them will die?"

"I guess me?" she said, shrugging as she looked around. "Ooo, show time." She stepped away from the angel, going over to where she saw Klaus and Mikael by the front door. She didn't intervene though, wanting to see what was about to unfold.

"Come out and face me, son. Or she dies." Mikael said, reaching out and bringing Elena to his side.

"Go ahead. Kill her."

"No, Klaus. He'll do it." Elena pleaded, attempting to break away.

Emma narrowed her eyes toward her sister, studying her expression and posture. She seemed off and everything looked forced and fake. Was it even Elena?

"If she dies, this lot will be the last of your abominations." Mikael said, referring to the crowd of hybrids gathered behind him on the lawn.

Klaus' face was consumed with anger. "I don't care. I just need to be rid of you."

"To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! Who do you have other than those whose loyalty you've forced? No one."

Tears threatened to spill from the hybrid's eyes. "I'm calling your bluff, father."

Mikael chuckled, Emma seeing a knife in his hands. "Your impulse, Niklaus. It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great." He thrust the knife into 'Elena's' back, Klaus going wide eyed.

With Elena on the ground and Klaus distracted, Damon shot past Emma, ramming a carved stake into Klaus' side. Emma's suspicions were confirmed when Elena stood back up, taking out two wolfsbane grenades and throwing them at Klaus' small hybrid army. Damon was able to bring Klaus down and made the move to deliver the final blow when Stefan vamped over and shoved his brother off of him.

"What are you doing?!" Damon yelled, the brothers battling each other.

The young girl took the opportunity to run over and snatch the stake, sliding on her knees over to Klaus and bringing the stake down to his chest. Klaus had regained some of his energy and seized her arm, snapping her forearm in half. She screamed out in pain and the hybrid sent her flying, the girl crashing into a decorative table.

Emma let out a groan, rolling over to her side in time to see Klaus grab the stake and zoom out the door, stabbing Mikael with the stake in the process. She scrambled to her feet and looked outside, Mikael screaming on the ground and up in flames.

"What did you do?" Damon growled, Stefan still holding him down.

Klaus came back in the house, the Gilbert back away from him. "He's earned his freedom."

Stefan got up and stood before Klaus, the hybrid staring into his eyes.

"Thank you, my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You're free." The Salvatore shuddered, a gasp escaping from his lips. All the while, Emma noticed Damon had gone and she knew she should have done the same. "As for you," Klaus began, turning to her. "you'll pay for that."

She vamped away, out the door and to an alley in town square. She leaned against a building wall, catching her breath. Her arm was beginning to heal as she started to walk down the alley to head back to the boarding house when a shot rang through the air and a searing pain formed in the back of her leg.

"Ah!" she yelled out, fall forward to her knees. She looked behind her to see a male figure with his arm straight out, a gun in his hand.

Emma got to her feet and tried her best to get away but it wasn't easy with a bullet in her leg. Another shot sounded and this time she was hit in her other leg. She attempted to get up but there was something about the bullets that just made it unbearable to stand. The man was now a few feet from her, the gun still trained on her.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" his deep voice said.

The young girl glared up at the guy, her fangs out, and shot towards him only to be stopped by an excruciating pain in her head. She grabbed both sides of her head, crying out in pain.

The man knelt next to her. "This doesn't compare to what I have planned to do. When I'm done with you, you're going to wish you were dead." He held his hand out and flick his wrist, the girl's neck snapping.

* * *

 **YOOOOOOO. What up, eveyone! Here's a new update. I hope you liked it.**

 **So Emma doesn't have emotions because Jared it like the worst guardian angel ever :o and now some guy kidnapped her :oooooo. Crazy right? The next one won't follow an episode soooooo you'll have to wait till the next update to find out what happens :))**

 **Let me know what you thought down bellow!**

 **See you in the next update! 3**


	6. Lost

There was a throbbing pain in her head when Emma finally came to, though she couldn't remember where it came from. She moved her hand only to hiss in pain, finding her arm was tied down by rope to the arm of a wooden chair. That was when she realized she was completely tied down to the chair, her other arm and her legs tied as well. She tried to break free, but a burning sensation formed where the ropes were, the smell of vervain rising up to her nostrils.

"What the hell?" she muttered, glancing around herself.

"I laced the ropes in vervain so you can't get out." a voice said, the girl finally noticing a man dressed in a t-shirt and jeans standing before her.

She looked around herself quickly. She was in a dimly lit room, the only piece of furniture being the chair she was sitting on. The beige walls were bare and her feet could feel the carpeted floor. And one thing was for sure, she had no idea where she was and why. What happened the night before? She looked down and saw the dress she was wearing, the events of last night coming back to her.

Homecoming. Jared. Mikael. That man.

She had no idea who he was and why he was out to get her. She had done nothing to him.

"Who are you? Why am I here?" she growled, ignoring the burning as she tugged at the ropes again.

The man chuckled, his arms behind his back. "I'd like to tell you a story,-"

"Where am I?"

"-not that you have a choice to listen or not." He smirked, glancing up at the ceiling.

"Once, there was a happy family from Chicago: the husband coming from a powerful witch family and the wife was human, but that didn't stop them from being together and having a beautiful baby girl. They loved her deeply, watching her to grow up to be an intelligent young woman. They had a tough time accepting the boy she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but soon they loved him too. The daughter married the boy and they decided to travel around the states, sending the husband and wife postcards from the small towns they were staying in. The last one happened to be from this town, Mystic Falls, the last one they'd ever receive." he said, sadness clouding his face.

"Sad story. What does that have to do with me?" Emma asked, doing her best to formulate a plan to escape. The ropes tying her down certainly didn't help and she hadn't had anything to drink since before going to the dance.

"Because the officials of Mystic Falls had no clue the daughter missing, the husband took matters in his own hands, searching for her himself." he continued, "With his magic, he was able to gain access to all the security camera of the town, combing through every ounce of footage from the day she arrived to the day she was last heard of. And finally, he found the exact moment her life was taken from her." He paused, locking eyes with the Gilbert. "By a vampire." he spat.

Confusion flooded her mind. "A vampire?" She pondered his words over and she saw it. The hatred that consumed his eyes, directed towards her. Him kidnapping her out of now where. "Y-your the husband. Aren't you?" she asked, the story finally making sense.

"And you're the vampire." He stepped closer to Emma.

"Look, I didn't-" A familiar pain pounded in her head as if her brain was exploding over and over again. She screamed, clutching the handles.

The man backed away, leaving the room for a second to return a moment later with tool box. The pain ceased when he snapped his fingers. "You are going to pay."

Opening the lid of the box, he pulled out a small crystal bottle and wooden stake. He popped the cap off of the bottle and poured the contents on the stake.

"You don't need to do this." Emma pleaded, tensing as he inched closer to her.

He ignored her and brought down the stake, the weapon impaling her left leg. She bellowed in agony.

* * *

Jared transported himself to the boarding house, appearing at the door. He raised his hand to knock, but brought it back down, opening the door instead. He had no time to be polite.

He had no idea what had happened when he preformed the spell. It was so simple and yet, he managed to mess it up. And now, he had no idea where Emma was. One minute, he saw her with Klaus, the next, she was gone.

"Hello?" he called out, entering the living room while searching for anyone. "Is anyone here?" He turned toward the sound of footsteps approaching from the library, seeing Damon and Elena enter the library.

"Jared?"

"Angel boy. What are you doing here?" the vampire asked, eyeing the boy with a suspicious look.

"That doesn't matter right now. Have you guys seen Emma? I've been looking for her everywhere."

Elena whirled to Damon, gesturing to the boy. "See? She wasn't with him! I can't believe you left her behind. Klaus could have done something to her."

"Hey, everything was happening so fast and I thought she was right behind me. Besides, I got a text from Stefan that she was gone before Klaus could lay a hand on her."

"So none of you have heard or seen her since the party?" Jared asked, gaining their attentions. When they shook their heads, he pulled at his hair. Once again, he failed to do the one thing he had sworn to do. "Damn it."

Damon narrowed his eyes at Jared, seeming to have been in deep thought. "She would have followed if she wasn't acting so weird."

"Acting weird?" Elena asked.

The Salvatore nodded. "Yeah, haven't you noticed? It was like she was there, but not there. The last time I saw her being normal was right after I took over watching Stefan." The vampire noted the way Jared fidgeting where he stood. "Say, Jared, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" he asked, stepping closer with his arms crossed.

Jared's body tensed, nervously looking from Elena to Damon. "U-um."

Elena moved forward and put herself between Damon and the boy. "Please. Tell us what do you know."

"Okay." he said, his gaze falling to the red and gold rug under his feet. "We-I had asked her to meet up at The Grill, to go over how she was doing, and when we came to the topic of what happened the night she became a vampire, she freaked. She couldn't handle it so I told her I had a way to help her."

"And what master plan did you come up with?" Damon interrupted, Jared seeing his jaw tightening.

He gulped. "I used my powers to take away what ever emotions she felt during that time so that when she remembered it, it wouldn't hurt so bad. But, uh, something went wrong and-and-"

"You took away all of her emotions." Elena finished.

"That explains her weird outburst when we were about to dagger Mikael and the way she's been acting. You little piece of shit took away her humanity." Damon growled, pushing Elena aside and grabbing Jared by the collar of his shirt.

"Damon, stop." Elena said, breaking his old on the boy. "That doesn't explain why she's missing."

"Yes it does. Emma would have come back here if she could feel. As of right now, she doesn't give a crap."

Elena rubbed her forehead, letting out a shaky breath. "Then, Jared, I'm told your her guardian angel? Doesn't that mean you should be able to track where she is?"

"Do you think I'd be here if I knew where she was?" he snapped but took a deep breath. "Sorry. Yes, I can track where she is but something is blocking the connection I have with her. You know what, forget it. I'll handle it." Jared turned to leave only to be stopped by Damon's taller figure.

"Whoa, whoa. We find her together."

"How can all of us make a difference if I can't track her like I'm supposed to?"

"Bonnie." Elena said, already pulling her phone out. "She can help."

Jared chuckled, shaking his head. "As an angel, I have more power than a witch and she's not as power as she used to be."

The phone was up to the doppelganger's ear, the boy barely hearing the ringing sound. "Never underestimate a Bennett witch."

The angel backed away and stood by a window, staring out at the backyard as Elena spoke hurriedly into the phone. This should not have been happening. He failed his job. His duty. He fail _her_.

* * *

A bead of sweat dripped down Emma's face, her whole body worn out. The man had left to give himself a break, but, boy, did he not hold back. Warm blood was still flowing out of the wound from the gash he made on her arm, vervain burning the inside of the wound, and her head still pounded from the constant wave of pain he sent with his magic.

She couldn't help but laugh a little at herself. This was karma's doing. It led her to believe what she'd done would go unpunished, but it snuck up on her and bit her in the ass. She was a fool to presume she'd be able to live her life without a worry of what she did. She did this to herself and she deserved it.

Emma glanced around the room, taking note that the light inside changed. It was getting later in the day, and it made her wonder if they'd noticed she was gone. She knew for sure that the man was using his magic to prevent them from locating her with a spell and considering he said he's a powerful witch, it must have been a strong one.

The door creaked open, the man entering the room again dressed in clean clothes. His old outfit was covered in blood from before.

She wanted to sleep so badly, but forced herself to keep her eyes open. The man spotted it.

"Tired, I see." he commented, making his way toward the window. "Let me help wake you up." Grabbing the cords to the blinds, he switched them open, allowing sunlight to bit her back.

The young girl screamed, her skin on the back of her arms and legs boiling. She clenched her teeth, looking down to her chest to see her mother's necklace gone. The burning ceased and she slumped in the chair, her breathing turning slow.

"Much better." the man said, leaving the window.

"Please," she began as he stepped into her view. "just kill me now. I know you want to. Just get it over with."

He smirked. "See. I told you I'd make you wish you were dead." He bent down next to the tool box he left on the floor and rummaged through it. "Like I said before, I'm not letting you go. We're keeping this up till I say so."

She sent a glare to the back of his head. She needed to get out now.

"If you don't let me go right now, I won't guarantee your safety from someone I know." she said.

The man stood back up, coming towards her with a medium size knife. He leaned in, close enough for his hot breath to hit her face. "Let them come." With the knife, he shoved it in the center of her abdomen.

Emma held back another scream, breathing heavily through her nose. He twisted the blade, tearing more of her insides. Her fingers turned white as she held the handles tighter. He stepped back, leaving the weapon there and went back to the tool box. She attempted to reach for it but her hands couldn't reach.

Just then, the door swung up, banging against the wall it was attached to, and Damon and Elena came inside, the other vampire tossing the man across the room.

Elena darted to the younger girl, carefully pulling the knife out. "Oh, my god, Emma. We're sorry it took so long."

"It's fine. Hurry and untie me." Emma replied, glancing back at the man. It was only a matter of time before he'd get up.

Elena rushed to get the ropes off of her, but the knots were not easy for her. And she took too long. The man had already gotten up and sent Elena flying. Damon made the move to attack but he fell to the floor, clutching his head in pain.

"I see this whole thing is not as effective as I hoped." the man said, using his magic to force Elena to stand up.

"Stop." Emma growled, a strange but familiar feeling arising in the pit of her stomach as she watched him creep close to her sister.

He tilted his head at the doppelganger, reaching his hand out to her cheek, but not touching her. "I guess the only way to really get to you. . . is to take away the people you care about like you did me." And with a flick of his wrist, Elena's head snapped to the left, her body falling limp to the floor.

Emma gasped, unable to look away from the body. The way Elena fell allowed her head to face the younger girl, her brown eyes staring up at her. Her ears pounded loudly, the man's footsteps echoing in them as he walked away, heading toward Damon who was still in pain.

"Get up." the man said, his magic raising Damon to his feet. "Another vampire. Staking you would be won't cut it." Holding his palm open, he hit Damon's back and the vampire's heart shot out of his chest, a splatter of blood staining the wall.

"No." Emma whispered, looking between the two bodies.

Tears pooled in her eyes and her breath caught. "No." she whispered again, her hands forming into fists.

"What a shame. I was hoping to save that part for later." the man said, pouting down at Damon, blood pooling beneath his feet. "But don't worry, Emma Gilbert, there's still more people out there who love you. And I won't stop till every last one of them is dead."

* * *

 **Hello my lovely readers :) I hope you like this update. I know it's short and I know you're probably confused! But I wanted to drag on what I have planned instead of just putting it all in one chapter. I was planning on posting earlier last week but it was just an emotional roller coaster because all my friends and I are going our separate ways for college so we've all been trying to hang out as much as we can before everyone officially leaves.**

 **Thank you all for being patient and I'll see you in the next update! 3**


	7. And Broken

Jared stood near the back of the library, eyeing the Bennett witch as she bent over her grandmother's grimoire. She had arrived about ten minutes after Elena called her, the same energy of determination as the Gilbert. He tried his best to tell them that there was nothing they could do but the best friends were stubborn. Very stubborn. And yet, just as he predicted, they hadn't found anything to help find Emma.

Shaking her head, Bonnie flipped back to the previous page she was on in the beginning. "The best I can come up with is a locator spell."

"And like I said before, if I can't track her with my magic, then no one can." Jared commented, crossing his arms.

"There has to be something we can do, Bon. We can't just give up." Elena turned the book towards her, going over the words of the spell. "Who knows what happening to her?"

Damon, seated on the arm of the couch, sipped his bourbon. "Can't you just, I don't know, pray to God or something and ask Him to find Emma for us? Since she's His 'prophet'?"

The angel rolled his eyes. "You think we'd still be looking for her if He helped? He won't because it's my fault and it's my responsibility to find her."

"And you're doing such a good job."

"Boys," Elena snapped, sending both of them glares. "this fighting is not helping, is it?" She looked back at Bonnie. "Are you sure there's nothing else we can do?"

Bonnie sighed, stealing a glance over to the younger boy. "Well, there is something I think could work, if we tried it."

Those words lifted what little hope was left in Jared.

"Spill." Damon said, standing up.

"Since Jared is supposedly more powerful than a witch and can naturally track Emma, then maybe he can get a little extra juice to find her. From me."

"Like taking your magic?" asked Elena.

"No, kind of. How do I explain this?" the witch muttered, searching around the library for help. "Okay, take a radio." she said, moving over to the small electronic piece on the fireplace mantel. "You know how in movies, when the radio signal is not strong enough and they use something to give it a little boost? I'd be doing that with my magic."

Jared had to admit, it was a good plan. "That could work." he said, walking to the center of the room. "I'm not saying it _will_ work, but-but it could."

Bonnie shrugged, closing the grimoire. "Let's get started."

The two sat on the couch, side by side.

"Okay, just do what you'd normally do whenever you'd try to find Emma." Bonnie instructed.

Jared, taking a deep breath, closed his eyes. The way he would locate Emma, it was as if he had the mental image of the world and a single red dot would be where she was. He'd never fail to find her, until now. The red dot was no where to be found.

"Hold out your hand." Bonnie said.

He reached his hand out and felt the Bennett wrap hers in his. It only took a second before he felt her magic rush through him. His map glowed brightly, making it difficult to even pinpoint anything.

"Focus."

Easier said than done. He thought about her and what could be happening to her. She wasn't the type of person to just leave, no matter if she had emotions or not. Someone had her. Someone was hurting her. Someone was keeping him from her.

A red dot appeared.

* * *

Emma's eyes snapped opened, a gasp escaping from her lips. She frantically scanned her surroundings. One second the man was about stab her and the next, everything went black.

"What?" she whispered, seeing the man was gone along with Damon and Elena's bodies.

The knife he had stabbed her with was gone, no evidence of him actually getting her. The blood splatters on the wall and on the floor were gone. She sniffed the air, thinking the man cleaned the mess up, and there was no smell of cleaning products.

It was as if they were never there.

The door flew open with a bang, Damon, Elena, and Caroline racing inside.

"Emma! Oh, my god. Are you alright?" Elena asked, kneeling before her and examining the slowly healing wounds.

"Y-yeah?" Emma croaked, watching Elena start to use a pocket knife to cut the ropes binding her arms and legs.

"Hurry it up. I'd like to get out of here in one piece." Damon urged, peaking through the blinds of the window.

Panic washed over the young girl at just the thought of the guy coming back. "No. Get out before he gets here. Just leave me." she pleaded.

Caroline shook her head, grabbing the knife from Elena and cutting the ropes herself. "Are you crazy? We're here to save you."

"Care, he'll kill you guys. Leave now."

"Emma, don't worry. Everything will be okay." Elena reassured.

Why weren't they listening to her? What she saw before was probably a vision and this was her only chance to save them and yet they weren't listening. Why won't they?

"Please! Just g-"

To her left, she heard two clicks and two stake shot out, one hitting Caroline in her chest and the other one hitting Damon. The vampires dropped to the floor, their skin turning gray and dark veins appearing on their faces.

Emma looked at them, holding back a cry. "Not again." She turned to Elena who was still. "Elena, listen. Get out before he gets you, too."

But it was too late. With no one behind her, a long red line materialized across the doppelganger's neck. The Gilbert grabbed it with both hands, choking on the blood she was coughing up.

"NO!" Emma screamed, reaching out with her free hand towards her sister, but she still had some ropes holding her back. She desperately sat there, watching her sister fall backwards.

She woke up with another gasp, her dead heart beating a thousand miles a second. Like before, her face was stained with tears and her throat was soar. She looked around the room frantically, searching for Elena, Damon, and Caroline's bodies but they were no where in sight. What the hell was going on?

"It took me awhile to figure out the perfect plan to execute my revenge." She froze, the man's voice echoing from behind her. "What would be the worst possible thing that could equal the pain I experienced when I watched my daughter's life be taken?" He slowly walked past her right and stood before her. "For you to experience it, too. Over and over again."

Emma gazed up at the man, a new wave of tears flowing down from her eyes. "Please. I'm sorry. I-It was an accident. I had just turned and I couldn't control it."

"Exactly!" he boomed, his face turning red. "You couldn't control yourself because vampires have the natural instinct to _kill!_ Taking innocent lives to feast on their blood." he spat.

"I-I'm sorry." she sobbed, her throat tightening.

He laughed, leaning back. "'Sorry' is if you bumped into me on the sidewalk, not for murdering people." He backed up, opening the door. "Enjoy." he said, slamming it behind him.

And as soon as the door clicked shut, it opened again, this time Jeremy, Damon, and Bonnie bursting through. She shook her head, closing her eyes as she heard them shuffle in and mess with the ropes.

"You are not real." she whispered.

"What? Emma, what are you talking about? We're saving you." she heard Jeremy say next to her.

"You're not real."

"Speed it up, guys. Who knows when he'll be back." Damon said.

"You're not real."

"Why won't these come undone?" Bonnie questioned, the ropes moving around her wrists.

"You're not real."

She heard stomping coming up to her. "What is she talking ab-" Damon's voice cut off when the sickening sound of bones crunching rang around her.

"You're not real." she whispered again, flinching from the thumps of bodies hitting the floor. "You're not real."

* * *

"She's here." Jared said, his finger pointing to an area not far from Mystic Falls on a map spread across the coffee table.

Elena leaned down. "There? But that's the middle of nowhere."

He shrugged. "This is where I saw her, alright. I know it worked. Let's go."

Damon vamped in front of the boy, stopping him in his tracks. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We can't just burst into the place. We need some sort of plan so that we don't get ourselves killed. For starters, we need to contact blondie."

"I tried but her phone keeps sending me straight to voicemail." Elena said.

"Great. Well, angel boy and I will have to go alone. We get in, grab her, and go, hopefully killing the person who has her in the process."

Elena faced the vampire, an eyebrow quirked up. "And why is it I'm not going? She's my sister."

Damon rolled his eyes, groaning deeply. "Must we go over this every single time? You may be some sort of supernatural, but you're still human. In one second, you could die."

"But-"

"Bye-bye." he said, already making his way to the front door. "Come on, Jared."

The boy scrambled to his feet and followed him, quickly sending an apologetic look to Elena. Damon was in his car, the engine roaring to life once Jared sat in the passenger seat.

"Point the way."

"O-oh. Make a left here and keep going straight till I tell you." Jared informed.

Damon did so, zooming off with a cloud of dirt flying. The two sat in silence for some time, the scenery passing them.

"So, what are your intentions with Emma?"

If Jared was drinking water, he would have choked on it or done a spit take. "W-what?"

Damon glanced at him. "I don't buy this 'I need to save her because I'm her guardian angel' act. It may be part of it, but there's obviously more."

"I don't have any intentions." Jared said, shifting in his seat. He couldn't look at Damon, knowing the vampire would see right through his lie in an instant.

It was against the rules of being a guardian. To not have feeling towards the people they were supposed to protect. It just made the job harder to do. So when the angel was assigned to Emma, he knew nothing was going to happen, until he met her. His plan was to become her friend and then keep an eye on her, but once he bumped into her at the carnival preparations, he was screwed. She was beautiful. Being her guardian was difficult enough with having to find ways to be by her without giving her the impression that he was a stalker, adding this just made things worse. When he asked Emma out on those dates, he told himself it was to protect her, but deep down, he just wanted to be with her. And look at where that got her? He let her leave Mystic Falls with that monster and let her die.

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. Just know this. If you hurt her in any way, emotionally, physically whatever, I will kill you with my bare hands." Damon threatened, cutting off a slow car.

"You don't know if that's how you can kill me."

Damon shrugged. "Then I'll just keep hurting you till you are nothing more than a pebble. Got it?"

He didn't want to push it. "Got it." he repeated.

The rest of the car ride remained silent, the angel telling Damon to turn here and there. It wasn't long till Damon came to a stop, put the car in park, and cut off the engine. In front of them stood a tan one story house, surrounded by tall trees and bushes. The house seemed relatively new, aside from the cracks here and there along the side of the walls.

"Could you double check your inner map to see that she's here?"

Jared shook his head, unbuckling the seat belt. "Already did. She's here. I know it." he said, stepping out of the car and softly closing the door.

They followed the dirt walkway up to the wooden patio, the two of them peering through the windows. Despite the sun setting and the light hitting the inside of the house, it was completely dark. Damon grabbed the front door knob and twisted it, surprised to see it swing open. He reached his arm out, immediately hitting the invisible wall placed in the door frame.

"Hellooo? Anybody home?" he called out.

Jared went inside, hearing Damon's sound of annoyance. "Relax." the boy said, turning around and waving a hand at the door. "Go ahead."

"I'm sorry?"

"Come on in."

The vampire glanced behind him as if he wasn't the one Jared was speaking to. "I know you're not from around here but you do realize I am a _vampire_ , right? I can't go in without the owner inviting me inside."

Jared sighed. "And I'm an angel with magical powers. What do you think I just did with my hand?"

Damon raised an eyebrow and hesitantly reached out, his face plastered with shock when his arm crossed the door frame to the inside of the house. "W-what?" He walked forward, no invisible wall keeping him out.

"You're welcome." Jared said, beginning to search around the house without expecting a rely.

They searched around the living room, lifting up the dusty rug for some sort of trap door and looking behind the furniture. The room was clear. Jared had been passing by the coffee table when he came across a grimoire laid out. He knelt down and flipped through the spell book, noting how thick and old it was.

"Whoa, Damon. I think we're dealing wi-"

"Shh." Damon interrupted, raising a finger as he turned his head to the side. "This way." he said, darting down the hallway.

Jared was close behind him as they headed toward a closed bedroom door. From where they stood, he could hear a soft mumbling from the other side. The two shared a look before they opened the door. There, tied to a wooden chair, sat Emma, eyes closed as she whispered to herself, 'You're not real'.

Damon made it over to her in three steps, attempting to untie the ropes around her wrist, only to hiss from the vervain stained on them.

"Let me get them." Jared offered, going over and untying the ropes with the snap of his fingers.

The Salvatore hooked his arm under her legs, feeling the young girl flinch at his touch, and lifted her up bridal style. "We need to get her out of here."

Jared couldn't have agreed more. They quickly rushed to the front door, only to be met by a medium built man in the middle of the living room. With the wave of his hand, Damon and Jared were sent flying to the side, Emma landing not far from them.

"I should have known people would try looking for her." the man said, slamming the front door shut.

Damon bared his teeth and vamped to the man but dropped to his knees, shouting out in pain as he held his head. Jared stood up and held his hand up, feeling his eyes start to glow.

The man chuckled. "Ah, an angel. You think I haven't encountered your kind?" He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply before opening his mouth to speak.

" _Desino_." Jared boomed, and in an instant, the man halted from uttering the spell. Damon's cries of pain and Emma's mumbling ceased and he was able to stand back up, curiously watching the encounter as he checked on Emma.

The man grew furious as he tried to cast a spell. "Impossible."

"I'm not your ordinary angel." he said with a smirk. " _Dormio_." And the man fell to the floor, out like a light.

Damon, who picked Emma up off the ground, went over to the boy, staring down at the fallen witch. "What did you mean by not being an ordinary angel?"

Jared shrugged. "Nothing. I just always wanted to say that."

The vampire slowly nodded and used his foot to kick at the man's leg. "So, did you kill him?"

The angel shook his head. "No, I just made him sleep. We need him for answers."

"Um, I'm not risking the guy waking up as we're heading back to the house." the vampire commented, carrying the Gilbert out to his car and setting her in the back seat.

From the house, Jared said, "Don't worry. He won't wake up until I make him. It'll be fine."

Damon looked at the boy skeptically before glancing down at Emma's sleeping form. He sighed, closing the back seat door and heading back inside. "Fine, but he goes in the trunk." he said, tossing the man over his shoulder.

* * *

 **Heyy my peeps. I hope you enjoyed this update. I'd just like to let you all know that I'm officially a college student! My first day of classes was Monday and booooooy was I tired cause my first class of the day was 7:30. . . . . in the morning. And I'm commuting and it takes about 45 minutes to get to my school. Yeah, I know, why did I choose such an early class? Well, I had no choice really. It was the only time that worked around my mom's, dad's, my sibling's, and my schedule. But for sure, next semester, my classes are NOT going to be in the morning.**

 **Moving on to the story:**

 **YAY! THEY FOUND EMMA AND HER KIDNAPPER! HOW EXCITING! I hope none of you actually thought I was going to kill off Damon and Elena ( no one in particular ;) ) because that would have been crazy. But I tried really hard to imagine what this guy had gone through and the person he lost so when I came up with the "torture" he was going to do to Emma, I believe that whole "seeing your loved ones die" was perfect for since he had to watch his daughter die as well. Not in person, but he wanted her to feel the exact same way he did. WHICH BRINGS ME TO EMMA HAVING EMOTIONS AGAIN AND WHAT A SHITTY WAY TO GET THEM BACK AM I RIGHT?**

 **And also, during this chapter, I was thinking to myself, what could be a really cool plot twist that would throw everyone off? And then it kind of just came to me and BOOM, Jared lifted the invisible wall so Damon could enter the house. It was crazy, y'all. Like I typed the whole thing out, stared at it, thought about it, almost deleted it, and then kept it. Idk, I thought it was cool to add that.**

 **PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE UPDATE. I LOVE READING YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS TOWARDS IT.**

 **Welp, I'll see you in the next update! :) 3**


	8. Sorry

Jared stood staring at her sleeping form, the eldest Salvatore pacing behind him.

"It's been two days. Why isn't she awake yet?" he asked, hands on his hips.

The angel shook his head. "He still has a hold on her mind."

Once they drove back to the boarding house, the man was immediately thrown into one of the cells in the basement and Emma was placed in her bedroom. But Emma never woke up and he kept the man down in case he tried to do anything without them knowing. And that's how it has been since then, the young girl laying still and whimpering every so often.

Damon groaned, coming to a halt. "Then let's kill him. If he's dead, he won't be using his magic to keep her asleep."

"And that would leave us with nothing about him. No answers." Jared said, turning to face the vampire.

Elena, who was seated next to Emma's bed, reached out and patted away the light coat of sweat that formed on the younger girl's forehead. "Can't we ask him? We don't even know what he's doing to her."

"You think he's going to just tell us what we want to know?" Damon questioned. "He obviously targeted her. He won't willingly give us information."

"I'll make him." Jared said, stomping out of the room before anyone could object.

He raced downstairs and down to the basement. Heading over to the one cell they had, he opened the door and stepped inside, coming face to face with the sleeping witch.

" _Evigilo_." he said, his hand stretched out.

The man tied to the chair gasped awake, glancing around. "W-where the hell am I?" He turned his head to face forward, noticing the angel's presence. "You. Release me, now."

Jared chuckled, grabbing a stool that was placed along the wall and taking a seat on it. "Not so comfortable being on the other end, right?"

"Trying to play the empathy card? I don't give a damn about what happened to that girl." the man spat.

"But you will stop whatever it is you're doing to her." Jared ordered, jaw set.

"Like hell. She deserves it all."

The boy narrowed his eyes, and without a second thought, he sprang forward and grasped the man's head, using his mind to pry into the man's. It was difficult for him to focus on just one memory, everything was rushing fast before his eyes. Before he broke the connections, he managed to obtain one vital piece of evidence: his name.

Jonathan.

He backed away from the witch, panting heavily. "Well, Jonathan. I think you'd find it in your best interest to tell me what I need to know. If not, I won't stop the very angry vampire upstairs from killing you."

The man, Jonathan, stared at the boy for a while, his face showing no emotion before he fell into a laughing fit. Jared's eyebrows furrowed together out of confusion as Jonathan to collect himself.

"Go ahead. I'll die knowing she's stuck like that forever."

The angel's eyes widened. "What?"

Jonathan nodded, clearing his throat. "Yes. My spell is bounded to her for as long as I wish. If I were to die, she would never wake up."

"You're lying."

"Afraid not, my boy." the witch said with a smirk. "I always have a back up plan."

Something boiled within Jared that made him raise his hand to end the man, right there and then, but he stopped himself short. Jonathan's warning rang through his head and there was no way it was a lie. The witch had something so big against the Gilbert that they needed to find out why.

"You're weaker than all the other ones I've met. They wouldn't have hesitated."

" _Dormio_." And the man slumped in his chair again.

He didn't need someone criticizing him. He could have ended it all; he had the power to do so and he's done it before. But as an angel, it was frowned upon to end another life unless it was absolutely necessary. The only reason he didn't do anything was because of the damn curse.

The angel ran out of the basement and went to go back to Emma's room, but was met with Elena and Damon halfway to the stairs.

"Don't tell me you killed the man after you said not to." Damon inquired, a stern look plastered on his face.

Jared shook his head, pushing his hands in his pockets. "No, I didn't. But I found out some stuff."

"Like what?" Elena asked.

"I was right before, that he is controlling her even when I have him asleep. If we kill him, she'll stay like this forever."

Elena's breathing became irregular. "W-then what do we do? We can't just leave her like that. There has to be a way."

A blanket of silence fell over the three as they all tried to think of a solution. Every thought that came to mind either left Emma in a magically induced coma or killed her; stuff that they wanted to avoid.

Damon lifted a finger to gain attention before speaking. "I have an idea that could work." He motioned them to follow him upstairs and to Emma's room, coming to a stop just at her bed. "As we know, we vampires can enter other people's minds. I think if I can get inside her mind and find her, I could wake her up."

Jared hit his forehead. "I completely forgot about that. I can help you."

"Do you have to?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." the boy responded, climbing onto the bed on the other side of the girl.

Damon took Elena's previous seat next to the bed and the two of them grabbed one of her arms, closing their eyes.

* * *

The next time Jared opened his eyes, he was no longer in the bedroom, let alone the boarding house. He was now in the hallway of the house Emma was found in, along with Damon.

"Where are we? Are we back in that house?" Damon asked, glancing around.

The boy nodded in response, his blue eyes landing on the door they stood before. He grasped the door knob and twisted it open to reveal the same scene they say two days ago; Emma, whispering to herself, tied to a wooden chair. They slowly made their way over to her.

"You're not real. You're not real." she whispered, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Jared knelt next to the chair, his hand shaking her shoulder. "Emma, you need to wake up."

"You're not real. You're not real."

"Come on, pipsqueak." Damon said, but the girl remained the same. "Why is she acting like this?"

Jared shrugged. "I don't know. She's been in this trance for days. It's probably going to take a little more than just telling her to wake up."

"W-" Damon was cut short when a stake flew through the air and lodged itself in his chest.

"Damon!"

The angel sprung to his feet as the vampire fell to the floor, his skin turning gray and veiny. Jared moved to check on him, but was impaled by a silver dagger to the gut. Soon, he could feel an intense burning before exploding.

The next second, he found himself outside the same door with Damon, both of them showing no sign of harm.

"What the hell just happened to us?" Damon asked, patting his chest for the invisible wound.

Jared did the same, confusion plaguing his mind. "I-I don't know. We just died."

"Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious. I'd like to know why." The Salvatore eyed the door, contemplating for a moment, and opened it again. He marched up to the young girl, his hands grabbing both her shoulders. "It's time to wake up, right now, Emma."

"You're not real."

"Damon, that's not really effective."

Damon rolled his eyes, waving him off. "Best thing I can do." He turned back to the girl. "Emma, listen to my voice. You are not at that house anymore."

"Y-you're-" She hesitated, her breath catching. "You're not real. You're not real."

"Whoa." Jared said, stepping further in the room. "She heard you."

The man cracked a smile. "Damn right. Pipsqueak, you can do it. Just wa-" He let out a grunt, lurching forward. He looked behind him to see another stake in the square of his back. "Oh, crap."

The angel knew what was going to happen next. A silver dagger shot out across him, leaving behind a gaping wound on his throat. He covered it, trying to prevent his black blood from leaving his body, but it was no use. He fell back and right when he hit the floor, he was once again in the hallway.

"Come on!" Damon shouted, punching the wall on the side. "We were so close. Why does this keep happening to us?"

"It's because of him. Jonathan." Jared concluded.

The older man turned to him. "Jonathan? Who's that?"

"The guy. The witch. This is the punishment he gave her; to see all of us die, over and over again." he said, his index finger tracing his neck. "That's why she keeps say that all of it isn't real. She knows it's not but, deep down, she can't help think it is."

"Then, how do we get her to snap out of it?"

Jared opened the bedroom door and walked inside. "We keep going until she does."

And that's what they did. They endured various ways of death as they did their best to wake the girl up. There were moments when she almost came back to them, but their successes quickly vanished as they came.

Damon's nostrils flared in frustration as they appeared before the door once again. "Is it possible to break everything or would that hurt her."

"It won't do much. We need to keep trying." Jared said, reopening the door and going inside.

He heard the man sigh behind him and he squatted in front of her, this time, taking a hold of her left hand.

"You're not real. You're not real." Emma whispered again in a repeated loop.

He closed his eyes, squeezing her imaginary hand. "Emma, please. You have to come back to all of us."

"Y-y-you're not real."

"Just open your eyes." he pleaded, his eyes scanning her face to find some sort of sign.

"You're not real."

Damon glanced around the room. "Hurry up. It's almost time."

"You're not real."

Jared stopped himself from responding. He played back everything time he and Damon tried to wake her up. They always told her to shake out of it but never said it was not real. "You're right, Emma. I'm not real."

"You're-" She halted just as the very weapons used to kill the two supernatural beings froze in the air.

The older vampire's icy orbs were wide in surprise. "Jared, whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it." Damon encouraged, staying still and peering over the boy's shoulder from where he stood; the dagger inches from his heart.

"Damon and I? We aren't here. Hell, you aren't here, too. None of this is real."

"N-n-not real?" Emma replied, her eyebrows scrunched together.

He could tell the gears in her mind were moving. "Yes. _You_ are in control here, Emma. You have the power to break that man's spell and be free."

The girl's mouth twitched. "Free." she repeated.

Jared cracked a smile. "Yeah. All you need to do is wake up, okay? Wake up."

"Wake. Up."

"Come on. Just wake up."

* * *

As if she had just surfaced from underwater, Emma took in a deep breath. In an instant, she knew something was different, that she felt lighter than before. When she opened her eyes, she expected to be face to face with that same wooden door but was taken aback when she saw the ceiling instead. All she could do was stare at it, not knowing if it would go away once she blinked. She could feel the softness of the sheets on her body and the weight of the comforter, telling her she was no longer tied up to a chair.

"Emma?"

Hearing her sister's voice made her flinch. She couldn't bring herself to turn her head towards the sound, afraid of what she might see if she did.

"Why isn't she responding?"

"How am I supposed to know? We literally just woke her up. Give her time to adjust."

It took everything in her power to look ever so slightly to the left. The fear that flooded her body slipped away when she saw Damon, Jared, and Elena were intact, at least for now.

Elena moved to the girl's side. "Hey there, Em."

"H-how am I here?" the young Gilbert muttered, the dryness of her throat coming to her attention. She couldn't remember the last time she had anything to drink.

"We got you out of there. You're safe now."

Emma's eyes went to the angel who stood in the back. Upon seeing him, she remembered the last time she spoke to him. She was horrible to him when all he was trying to do was help her.

Instinctively, she opened her mouth to apologize, but the burning in her throat made it impossible for her to say another word. Her hand grasped at her neck.

"Oh, here. Drink this." Elena said, handing the younger girl a blood bag from the night stand.

She took it and pulled the cap off, eagerly swallowing the thick substance. It felt good, like always. A little too good. In a split second, she vamped away from them, hugging the far wall. They all inched towards her but she held up a hand to stop them.

"Stay back. T-this isn't real." she said, pushing herself even further against the wall. "It's impossible to be here."

Damon, who had somehow gotten closer unnoticed, said, "Pip, you need to just take a deep breath and calm down."

Emma shook her head, tears already dripping down her face. "No. No. No. I'm not here. This is another trick. Just to fool me." she whispered.

"What did he do to her?" Elena asked.

She saw Jared turn to the doppelganger. "He made her watch us die over and over again."

"Oh my, god."

The Gilbert turned her head to the side to avoid the look on her sister's face. "This isn't real."

The Salvatore groaned loudly. "Enough with that crap. It made some sort of sense when we were in your brain but right now, it doesn't. Because this-" He waved his arms around. "-is real."

Emma's gaze flickered to the door, waiting for it to slam open and for Death to walk in. "How do I know?"

"Well, if you change and come with us," She looked down and saw she was no longer in her homecoming dress but in a floral pajama set. "we'll show you." Jared replied.

And she did. First, they gave her some time to freshen up. She took the chance to use the shower, to wash away the grossness that stuck to her body. The water felt great, and then being able to wear clean clothes was even better. She changed out of the pajamas and into a fresh pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. She caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror and noticed she looked completely fine, as if nothing had ever happened to her. Maybe she looked worse before she had the blood.

She left the room and slowly went downstairs. As much as she wanted to believe she was safe, she couldn't help but think it could all turn on her. She made it to the living room where the rest were waiting.

"Okay," she began, crossing her arms. "what is it that you want to show me."

Jared scratched the back of his head. She could see the nerves rising off his body. "It's more of a who than it." When she didn't respond, he elaborated. "We have him in the cellar."

Her breath caught. "He's still alive?"

"We couldn't kill him without making sure it didn't harm you and also finding out what the hell he wanted with you." Damon explained, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

Emma turned away from them. "I already know why he did it." she said, her gaze dropping down to her feet. "He wanted to get revenge for what I did."

"Revenge? For what? We've never seen him before in Mystic Falls." Elena replied, confusion laced in her words.

"I killed his daughter." Emma said, her grip on her arms becoming tighter. She glanced over her shoulder and saw their somber faces. "He was looking for me ever since he found out about her. He. . . did some stuff and then had me watch you guys die."

Elena stepped forward to the girl and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Em. This should have never happened to you."

It took her a moment to register the hug and finally accept it, holding tightly to Elena's waist. It was surreal that she was in the arms of her sister after being held captive for what felt like forever. But it wouldn't be like this forever unless she faced her demons.

She broke the hug. "I need to talk to him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want to go _to_ the guy who held you captive and tortured you?" Damon questioned.

"I need to talk to him." she repeated. She looked to Jared and he nodded.

"Come on." the angel said and she let him guide her down to the cellar despite Damon's complaint.

She was surprised to see how vulnerable the man looked once Jared opened the metal door. He was tied to a chair, out unconscious, almost like what he did to her.

"What's his name?" she asked, coming to a stop before the witch.

Everyone else joined behind her.

"Jonathan." Jared replied, standing next to her. "I tried to see into his memories, but that was the only thing I got."

"Wake him up."

The boy took one last look at her, as if to see she was going to change her mind, but he knew she wouldn't. " _Evigilo_."

Jonathan came to, sucking in a deep breath while taking in his surroundings. "What in devils name?" The man came across the Gilbert, hatred filling his eyes. "How are you awake?"

Emma knelt in front of him, careful to keep a safe distance. "Jonathan-"

"DO NOT SAY MY NAME!" he screamed, his face deep red. "DO. NOT!"

With his reaction, it brought the girl to tears. She made this happen to him. "I know this does not fix everything, but I'm s-sorry for what I did. I never, ever wanted to hurt _anyone_."

"And yet, as the monster you are, you did the very thing." he growled.

"I know!" She wiped away some of the tears. "I couldn't control it. I had just turned and all I could think about was blood. I made an awful choice to ruin your and your daughter's lives forever and I wish I could change that." Emma said, staring deep into the man's dark brown eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Jonathan remained silent as he stared right back at her. There was a slight change in his eyes, though it was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was. Suddenly, he shifted his gaze to the Salvatore in the back, throwing him out to the hallway.

"What are you doing?!" Emma yelled, standing up abruptly as Elena dashed to the fallen vampire.

"You really believed I was going to forgive you? My dear, how wrong you are." the witch growled. Jared's mouth opened to put him back to sleep, but Jonathan was quick to send him straight up to the ceiling and back down to the ground.

"Please, don't do this." Emma begged, helplessly stuck in her place.

"NEVER! You will _now_ live with the pain I bare!" He then looked at the doppelganger, but before he could do anything, the Gilbert shoved her hand in his chest, grabbing a hold of his heart.

Blood rose up and out of his mouth, spilling over his chin.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, squeezing tightly around the organ.

"Y-y-y-ou. . ." She leaned in closer to his lips. "wi-ll burn in hell." he muttered, kicking at her legs to push her away.

The man slumped for the final time in the chair, his bloody heart now resting in her hand.

* * *

 **Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the update! When I was first writing this update, I had something else written but then a new thought came over me and I wrote this new one instead because it made more sense to me. It just took me a lot longer to finish it. Thank you for being patient! 3**

 **Tell me what you thought! I love hearing from you guys!**


	9. The New Deal

Emma laid down on her bed at the boarding house, her gaze stuck to the ceiling. She could still remember the feeling of Jonathan's unbeating heart in her hands, his blood dripping to the ground around her. She didn't mean to do it, but when he started attacking everyone, she panicked. The only thing on her mind was to stop him. After it happened, she took it upon herself to bury Jonathan. Damon and Jared had offered their help, but she told them she could handle it. It was her responsibility to do it.

It was already sunrise, a ray of light beginning to hit her eyes. She flinched and checked the time on the clock; it was well past the normal time to get up. Elena had offered to take their home, but she couldn't bring herself to go back to that place. She couldn't bring herself to face Jeremy.

The last time she really spoke and saw him was when she and Elena caught him making out with Anna's spirit in the bathroom of The Grill. So as of now, she did not know what was going on with him. And she missed that. Because of Klaus, she missed out spending time with her brother during summer. There was no way for her to take that back.

She pulled the covers off and went into the closet, putting on leggings, a stripped blouse, and sneakers. Luckily, it was the weekend, so she had nothing to do. Heading downstairs, the young girl went to the kitchen for a quick drink and noticed how empty the house was. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, indicating a text message was sent. She saw the text was from Elena, asking her to come over for an intervention for Jeremy.

Emma held back sending a reply. Would he even want her there? She let out a sigh. She couldn't avoid him forever. She replied and grabbed a jacket that was draped over the couch, going out the front door.

There was one thing she loved about being a vampire and it was having the ability to go places in an instant. She didn't need to ask for a ride for anyone or run. So, using her vampire speed, she vamped all the way to her home, appearing just before the porch steps.

The Gilbert went up the wooden steps hesitantly, nerves creating goosebumps on her arms. She wished she didn't have that feeling going to her own home, but she couldn't help it. She hasn't been inside it since the beginning of the summer.

She pulled out the keys to the house she always carried with her. Slipping it through the key hole, she turned it to the left and the lock clicked. She pushed the door and it swung open.

"Emma." Elena called out from the dinning room, walking over with plates in her hand. "Thanks for coming. I know things are a bit hectic, but I'm really worried about Jeremy."

The girl nodded, readjusting her leggings. "I understand. I haven't spoken to him in a while so this would give us a chance to talk."

Elena smiled, turning around to head back to the kitchen. "Great. Alaric is almost done cooking. You can eat if you wa-"

"Elena?" Emma interrupted. She gestured to the door frame. "I can't go in."

The smile on the doppelganger's face dropped. "O-oh my, god. I completely forgot. You can come inside."

The last time she had stood by the door, she could feel the invisible wall that prevented her from entering the inside. Once Elena had said those words, it was as if it was broken down all at once. Emma reached out a hand across the door frame, nothing blocking it. She went further and stepped inside for the first time in a while.

"Feels good to be home." she muttered, but deep down, she somehow felt like a stranger in her own home.

Alaric was at the island, chopping some vegetables for the meal. "Hey there. Elena fill you in?" he asked.

Emma noticed the utensils weren't out so she walked over to the drawer and took some out. "Yeah. What exactly has been going on with him?"

"He's been distant lately and over the summer, he got a job at the Grill. Only I just found out he was fired weeks ago." Elena explained, setting plates on top of the placemats.

"Really?" She moved around the table and placed a fork and knife at each seat. "Why would he suddenly do that?"

Her question wasn't able to answered due to the front door opening and closing. Jeremy, seeming to be a bit out of breath, made his way into the kitchen and over to the fridge.

"Just in time. We've been cooking." Elena said.

Jeremy shook his head, opening the fridge. "Sorry. Just passing through."

"Aww. Well, I thought we'd all stay in, have a meal together like a typical atypical family." Alaric suggested.

Jeremy pulled out a can of soda. "Why?"

"Maybe because you got fired and you didn't tell anyone." Elena pointed out.

The Gilbert brother rolled his eyes. "Look, can we do this later? I made plans with Tyler. He's right outside."

Emma held her hand up to stop him from leaving. "Since when have you and Tyler Lockwood been friends?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Uh, yeah. He's Klaus's pet dog. If Klaus wanted to, he could have Tyler kill you in an instant." she countered, crossing her arms. She never thought she'd see the day Jeremy _wanting_ to be around Tyler.

"He can here outside. Besides, neither of you should lecture me on who I can and can't hang out with."

Elena scoffed. "What is with the attitude?"

"You know what, this is lame. I'm leaving." Jeremy said, ignoring Elena's question and heading to the door.

"No, no, no." Elena said but was too far to stop him.

Emma hurried in front of him and shoved him back, a little too hard, making him stumble back. "You're not going anywhere."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes at her, betrayal on his face. He turned to Alaric for some back up but the older man shrugged. "Fine." He turned to his sisters. "You want me to stay in? Let's all stay in, then. Yo, Tyler, come on in."

The front door opened and Tyler stepped inside, entering the kitchen with a smug look on his face.

Jeremy pulled out a chair, patting the back support. "Have a seat, Ty. I'll get you a drink." As the hybrid sat down, Jeremy grabbed a glass and filled it with water, setting it by Tyler.

"Thanks."

Elena shook her head, clearly annoyed. "This is weird. Klaus has hybrids stalking me, and now, you're just sitting in our kitchen."

"Maybe I should go." Tyler said, the one good idea so far.

Jeremy came back to the table with plates and utensils for his new best friend. "No, stay. You're not doing anything."

"You sure you don't have to report back to your owner to get a treat?" Emma asked, sitting down on the table's bench.

"That's not how it works." he replied with a chuckle.

Alaric came over from the island with a glass of wine, taking a seat at the head of the table. "Tell me, Tyler. What _is_ the difference between being sired and being compelled?"

The hybrid took a moment before responding. "Compulsion, that's just mind control, like hypnosis. And being sired is like faith. You do something because you believe it's the right thing."

"So, you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing?" Elena inquired, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

He shook his head. "I don't serve him. Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that."

"What if he asked you to jump off a bridge?" the vampire hunter asked.

"He wouldn't. And if he did, I'd be fine. I'm a hybrid."

"Okay, so what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" Elena questioned.

"He wouldn't."

"But what if he did?"

"I don't know. Then I'd rip out my heart!" Tyler answered, leaving everyone shocked.

Emma's eyes darted towards Jeremy and she could see he was taken back. Hopefully that convinced him something was wrong with Tyler.

Tyler leaned back in his chair, pissed. "You guys sound like Caroline, getting all freaked out over something you don't understand."

"You're right, Tyler. We don't understand. But it seems as though you are willing to be someone's lapdog." Emma shot back.

"You're overthinking it. I can still make my own decisions." he said, but she thought otherwise.

The sound of a phone rang and Jeremy excused himself to take the call.

"Was it your choice to come here or did Klaus tell you to?" the young vampire asked, leaning on her elbows.

Tyler seemed to have been a little restless. "I came here because I wanted to. Klaus doesn't control my every movement."

"Hey, I'm just trying to understand. I was turned by his blood and yet the only way I listen to what he says is if he compels me. _I_ can make my own choices."

Jeremy rejoined the group, sitting back in his seat.

"I gotta go." Tyler said, checking his watch for the time. "Thanks for the food offer, but-"

"Next time." Alaric finished, munching on a cracker.

The hybrid nodded and stood up, pushing his chair and leaving the house. Once he was gone, Elena and Alaric got up and went to get the waiting food on the counter. Emma's phone chimed, a text from Jared saying he was going to call her. She moved to the living room, pressing answer when the angel's name popped up.

"Hey, something you need?" she asked, turning away from everyone else.

There was some shuffling on his side. " _No, nothing in particular. Just wanted to check up on you after what happened with Jonathan_."

The mention of that name made her flinch. "I'm getting by. I just can't get that image out of my head."

" _What image?_ "

"Of me, holding his heart and burying his dead body." she replied, flashes of that night coming to surface.

" _I asked if you needed help_."

More like begged but she didn't say that. "I know and I appreciate that. But it was something I needed to do. I took his life and it was my responsibility to take care of it."

" _Listen, if you need any help with that-_ "

"No offense, but I'll pass. The last time you helped me with my emotions, you ended up getting rid of them and I got them back by watching everyone I know die in front of me." she said.

She heard him groan. " _Yeah, that's pretty much my fault. Sorry about that._ "

Emma smiled. She couldn't really blame him for everything. He was trying to help her. "No, it's fine. You didn't to it on purpose."

"Jeremy?"

The girl glanced back towards the dinning room to see her brother missing from his seat. "I'll call you later." she said and hung up the phone. "Where'd he go?"

Elena looked at her. "I don't know. He was just here."

Alaric reached down to Jeremy's plate and picked up the Gilbert ring left behind. "It's his ring."

"Why wouldn't he take off his ring?" Emma asked, walking over and taking it from him.

"I don't know."

They all turned to the front door that was wide open and in a distance, Jeremy was standing in the middle of the street.

"Jeremy? What are you doing?" Elena called out as they stepped outside.

Just then, a black SUV veered sharply around the corner of the road and went straight towards her unmoving brother. They tried to call out to him but he ignored them. Emma and Alaric ran over to get him, though, the girl was faster. She managed to push Jeremy out of the way.

The car hit her side and she was sent in the air, her back slamming on the windshield. The SUV came to a stop and she fell to the asphalt, hard. The glass from the windshield pierced her back and arms and the impact of her fall left her breathless. The last thing she heard was the sound of the SUV zooming away.

* * *

 _Emma was standing in the basement of the old witches house where they had planned on killing Klaus and Elena was brought back to life thanks to John. Before the young girl were four coffins, the letter 'M' was engraved on the lids. They were arranged in a line and in front of one of them was Bonnie. She was muttering foreign words, her eyes closed in concentration._

 _The Gilbert reached out a hand to the witch, but when she made contact with her, a jolt ran through her. An image of a blonde woman, sharing the characteristics of Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah. The woman had a dark aura to her that screamed at the young girl to stay away from her. The last thing she saw was fire engulfing the room._

* * *

When she finally came to, she felt the pain way her down. Just to raise her arm was difficult. And with the vision that happened, it took more of a toll on her. She used her little strength to sit up on the couch she laid on. To her left was Alaric sitting on one of the love seats.

"Ric?" she muttered, grunting in pain as she adjusted her position.

He smiled her, reaching over and helping her up. "Welcome back. How do you feel?"

She glanced behind her to the window and saw that the sun was beginning to set and her siblings were no where in sight. "I think so. What happened? Where is everyone?" she asked, planting her feet on the ground.

"You don't remember what happened to you?"

Emma rubbed her neck. "I remember the car going towards Jeremy and getting hit- Jeremy! Is he okay?" she asked, more alert now. She some how forgot about the reason she was in this state.

"He's fine. He's up in his room." Alaric placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

A sigh escaped her lips. She had no idea what she would have done if she found out Jeremy ended up hurt or worse, dead. "Thank goodness. So what happened?"

"Turns out Jeremy was weaned off vervain and was compelled by Klaus to stand in the street so one of the hybrid minions could run him over. All to send a message."

"What message?"

"To give him back the coffins."

Her eyes grew wide. "Someone took the coffins?" she asked, panic beginning to rise. There was one other thing Klaus cared more about than himself and it was the coffins of his "dead" family he kept around. They were his pride and joy. "He needs to get them back. He'll go crazy and kill everyone."

Alaric nodded. "We know. It was Stefan who took them, so Elena and Damon went to convince him to give them back. Haven't heard anything yet so I hope it's a good sign." She moved to get up but the pain in her side made her yelp. "Okay, how about we get you something to make you better. Damon brought some blood over when we called him." he said, guiding her to the kitchen.

"The thing I hate about what I am. The need for human blood to feed and heal me." She lowered herself down onto a dining table chair as Alaric went into the fridge to retrieve the blood bag.

"Hey, it's rough but we all have your back." He reached into a cabinet and took out a glass, walking over and handing the stuff to her.

She frowned, thinking back to Jeremy. "Not everyone." His reaction to her being what she was said it all. It was bad enough _she_ didn't feel good about herself, but for her brother to resent her?

"Do you mean Jeremy?" She nodded. "Listen, when I first found out about vampires and how one killed my wife, I resented them. Think about how he feels. His little sister was turned into the thing he fears and hates."

"I didn't choose to be like this!"

"I know. Just give him some time." Alaric's advised.

Emma rubbed her eyes. "And if it lasts forever?"

He shrugged. "Then I don't know."

The door bell rang and Alaric left her to answer. While he was gone, she pondered over what he said.

Time. Why was Jeremy the one who needed time? He didn't have to control the urge to tear everyone's neck off. He didn't have to keep his emotions in check to avoid having a major meltdown. She now had to live as a monster for the rest of her- forever. The person who needed time was her.

A grunting sound made it to her ears, making her snap her head in the direction of the front door. She stood up from the chair and saw Alaric hunched over and a man outside.

"Alaric?" She inched closer steadily, partially from her slowly healing wounds but also from her suspicion of the man.

The vampire hunter turned slightly toward her and that's when she could see the end of a knife in his abdomen. Emma gasped and attempted to speed over to Alaric, but the man outside quickly pulled out a gun and shot her several times, three bullets to her chest and one in her left leg. She fell backwards, the bullets making it impossible to move. She tilted her head to the side to get a view of the man as he chuckled when Alaric fell too, a pool of blood forming around his body.

"Now, if I was invited in, I could help save him since you seem to be busy." he said.

Her eyes narrowed. "Can't invite you in dumbass. I'm a vampire. Besides, if he dies, he'll just come back to life and kill you." She dragged herself to a wall and propped herself up.

He shook his head, a snugness surrounding him. "I don't know about that. Seems to me he's not dying fast enough." he said, pointing down to Alaric.

Just then, a stake shot out and hit in the chest. Jeremy appeared in her line of vision and checked on Alaric before making his way to her. "Alaric is barely hanging on. Are you alright?" he asked, looking over her wounds.

She nodded. "We need to get him help." She gestured to the guy. "Is he dead?"

Jeremy got up and went to the kitchen returning with a kitchen knife. "Not yet." He stepped outside and hovered over the guy, raising the knife up.

"Wait what ar-" She jumped when he brought it down and made a clear cut on the guy's neck, decapitating his head. She froze as he turned back with droplets of blood sprayed across his face.

He went to Alaric and picked him up. "I'm taking him to the hospital. Can you manage?"

It took her a second to respond. "Y-yeah. I'll meet you there." she said as he disappeared out of the house.

She was blown away when she watched him kill that guy. This was who her brother was now? Elena was right. Something was going on with Jeremy and it was turning him into someone she barely recognized. Their life did this to him.

After recovering from the events, Emma pulled out all the bullets that hit her. She held one up to see they were wooden, the reason why it hurt her so much. Before she left to meet up with Jeremy at the hospital, she healed herself with some blood and changed out of her ruined clothing. Also, she sent a text to Damon, informing him about the body that needed to be taken care on the patio of her house.

She went straight to the hospital and found her brother sitting down in the waiting area.

"How is he?" she asked, hands in the pockets of a new jacket.

He shrugged, shaking his head. "He's out right now, but it's not looking too good. The knife went deep. They were asking to do surgery, but I had them wait."

"Wait for what? The ring is tampered with or something. He needs help." Emma said, turning to the hospital room Alaric was currently in.

"I was waiting for you." Jeremy said, looking up to the young girl.

She quirked an eyebrow. "To do what? I'm not a surgeon." When he only stared at her, she connected the dots. "But I have vampire blood." Her the hair on the back of her neck stood up at just the thought of giving anyone her blood.

Emma stepped away from her brother and entered Alaric's room. He was still dressed in the button up and jeans he wore when he was stabbed. She shut the door and closed the blinds to prevent peeping eyes. She, then, went to the side of his bed, and he stirred awake, moving to get up.

"Hey, hey, don't move. I'm here to, uh, fix you." she said, pushing gently down on his shoulder to keep him down.

She didn't address his questioning glance as she brought her wrist up to her mouth. It was strange to think that she had to bite herself. But she had to do it to make sure Alaric was better. Her fangs unsheathed and she bit down hard until she drew blood. Before it could drip to the ground, she placed her wrist on his mouth.

"Drink."

Alaric nodded weakly and he began to drink the blood. As he drank, she looked at the white bandage covering his wound and peeled it back to see the wound healing, as if it was never there. She pulled back and helped him sit up.

"Thanks." he said, groaning from his soar muscles.

She smiled and inched her way to the door. "Anytime. I'll give you a moment to collect yourself." And she met up with Jeremy by the entrance of the hospital.

"Did it work?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just let him have some privacy." she informed, crossing her arms as she stood by him.

A silence blanketed over them and it brought up her conversation with Alaric. After what she saw him do earlier that night, it showed there was something wrong with him. This would be the opportunity for her to talk to Jeremy, to see what was the matter with him and how he felt about her. The problem was, she couldn't find the courage to utter a word. Her relationship wasn't the same as it was before the whole mess with Klaus happened. She didn't know if he was even going to listen to her.

"'kay guys, let's go." Alaric said, meeting up with the two.

They all exited the building, heading to the vampire hunter's car. He glanced over to Emma and she met his stare, his eyes asking if she talked to her brother. She shook her head and kept her gaze to the ground, ashamed she couldn't grow up and face her problems.

"Hey, Jeremy?" the adult said, bringing them to a halt. "You okay?"

The middle Gilbert shrugged, stealing a glance at Emma. "Why wouldn't I be? I shot a hybrid and chopped his head off with a meat cleaver. Typical Sunday, huh."

"You know you can talk to us about this stuff, right?" Alaric said.

"What could you tell me that I don't already know? This is the way things are. It sucks, but I just got to get used to it." Jeremy admitted, moving past the other two and going straight to the car.

Emma watched him walk away. It was because of vampires that made her brother the way he was. It was his involvement in the supernatural that made him colder and more reserved. And it needed to be fixed.

* * *

When they returned to the Gilbert house, Jeremy and Alaric went upstairs and Emma went to the kitchen, where she found Elena and Damon in close proximity of each other.

"O-oh! Sorry." she said, not sure if she should turn away or leave.

The two backed away from each other, seeming as though they were caught doing something forbidden.

"Em, you guys are back. How's Alaric?" Elena asked, setting down a bloody rag on the counter, most likely from the porch.

"He's fine, just changing into something clean." she responded, Damon walking past her. "I need to talk to you, Elena, about Jeremy."

Elena gestured to the dining table and they sat down. "Is it because of what he did to the hybrid 'cause, I'm worried, too."

Emma clasped her hands on the table. "You weren't there, Elena. I saw him do it. He didn't care about what he did. He had this look on his face that I can't get out of my head. This life is changing him, hurting him. He doesn't deserve to have to live in fear."

The doppelganger nodded in agreement, standing up. "You're right. I think the best thing we can do is give him a better life."

After formulating some sort of plan, the two of them went up to Jeremy's room, where he was putting away his clothes.

"Can we talk?" Elena asked, knocking on the door frame.

Jeremy sighed, plopping down on his bed. "What did I do now?"

"I've been thinking about what you said earlier, about how we should pack up and go."

He shook his head. "Elena, I didn't mean any of that."

"But you were right." she said, Emma making her way to sit down next to Jeremy. "You shouldn't have to give up a normal life just because of me."

"What's going on?" he asked just as Damon and Alaric joined them all.

Emma grabbed his arm, his attention landing on her. "Jer," Tears were beginning to form in her eyes, but she held them in. She stared straight into his eyes and spoke. "You're going to go out of town for a little while. There's some really nice people in Denver that you'll be staying with where you'll go to school and make new friends. You'll keep doing art and have some fun at parties. Just not too much." She paused, unsure of what to suggest him to do next.

"Tell him he's going to leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it." Alaric said.

She looked at Elena to see if that was what she wanted as well, receiving a nod in return.

Emma couldn't keep it in and let a tear shed down her cheek as she turned back to her brother, the boy sitting in a hypnotic state. "You're going to leave Mystic Falls behind. . . and never think twice about it. You're going to have a better life where you won't be in danger." she finished, moving her eyes away.

Jeremy blinked a couple of times and got up, grabbing a bag from his closet and tossing it on his bed. "How cold is it in Denver this time of year?" he asked, opening one of his drawers.

The young girl had to leave the room, unable to stand what she had done. She entered her room and closed it behind her, the rest of the tears she held back falling down. She leaned her body against the door and slid down to the ground. She didn't know if Jeremy would ever forgive her for doing that to him or if she could even forgive herself. Compelling Jeremy to leave town was the only option to keep him safe, but taking away his free will at the same time was wrong. Was there another way?

* * *

 **I hope you liked the update! Make sure you tell me what you thought!**

 **See you in the next update 3**


	10. Our Town

With the early sunshine beaming through her bedroom window, a green spiral notebook opened to the first page, and a pencil in her hands, Emma wrote down every vision she ever had, starting with the time she saw Elijah come back to life. After collecting herself from compelling Jeremy to leave town, she started thinking over the vision she had when she was hit by the SUV. As she thought it over, she realized there was no record of the visions she's seen. So she decided to think back and write them all down in case she wanted to revisit them in the future since she's cursed to live forever.

With the new vision, the woman in it was familiar. When she saw the flash of her, she almost thought it was an older version Rebekah dressed in medieval clothing which was impossible since the original died as a teen in that time. There must have been some sort of connection this woman had with the Mikaleson family. But what did she have to do with the coffins?

She had gotten to the vision when she saw Elijah tossing up a coin and shattering glass when she heard Elena leave the house. The young girl stayed inside her room the whole night so she never had a chance to ask her sister about her kiss with Damon. She was able to listen their conversation with her vampire hearing. The idea of her sister with Damon was a very foreign concept because they never saw eye to eye. Also, Elena was Stefan's girl. Yeah, he was currently an a grade A jerk, but deep down the Stefan Elena loved was trapped and needed to be saved. With Damon, he had some good qualities to him, but Elena always made it clear she had no interest in the older Salvatore, at least till now.

The young girl decided that she had written enough and closed the notebook, putting it into the drawer of her desk. It was another day of school; another day of her pretending to be a normal teenager. She had already changed into a clean outfit: a maroon long sleeve shirt, jeans, and a hoodie. Her shoes were downstairs, so she left her bedroom to put them on, catching a glance of Jeremy going around is room with stuff in his hands.

She frowned and opted to leave him alone, shuffling downstairs. She slipped on her sneakers, grabbed her backpack, and left for school, deciding to take the scenic route. It was crazy to think that such a beautiful place was plagued with death, making it a horror in disguise. She remembered there was a time when her life was normal; something she longed for again.

Emma neared the school, students already going in and out of the large building. One of the first faces she recognized was Jared who sat at a picnic table. She opened her mouth to call out his name, but the look on his face stopped her. He was frowning, his eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. She went up to him, instantly gaining his attention.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

He shook his head, running his hands through his hair. "No, I'm not."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Jared looked to her, his eyes telling her something was wrong. "There's no easy way to say this because, honestly, I'm not really happy with this decision but it's not like I can ju-"

The girl raised her hand up, silencing before he could say another word. "Jared, just spit it out."

"I'm leaving." he said.

She sat there, processing what he said. Leave? How could he? His job was to protect her. "I don't understand. How can you leave? Aren't you supposed to watch over me and such?"

"I was- I am. But, the big guy upstairs decides when I'm needed or not." he explained, leaning forward. "Right now, I'm not."

She was trying her best to wrap her head around the idea, but kept coming up blank. "So what, does that mean you'll be gone forever?"

"Of course not. It's just, you don't need my help, at least right now. In the future, I'll come back and guide you."

Emma nodded, staring down at her hands. "Wow. I honestly don't know what to say. When are you supposed to go?"

"Uh, now. I just came by to say goodbye." he said, positioning his body toward her.

She reached out and brought him in for a hug, his body going rigid for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. The feelings she had for him in the beginning, the crush that formed when she met him, were not how she felt anymore. It all changed when she found out he was really just trying to work his way into her life to watch over her. But she saw him as her friend. A friend who was there for her and she was glad to have someone like that. Her old friends were never like that and, deep down, she was happy those friendships ended. They showed their true colors when she came back to Mystic Falls.

"I'm going to miss you, okay? You are my friend." she whispered, giving his shoulders a squeeze and letting go.

Jared smiled, showing off his perfectly white teeth. "Me, too." He stood up from the bench. "See you soon." he said and walked off.

Emma quickly looked down at her lap, taking a deep breath, and stared back at where the angel was, only to find his figure gone, as if he disappeared into thin air. She sent a smile in that direction, happy she wasn't completely sad he was gone because it wasn't a goodbye.

* * *

Throughout the day, she caught glimpses of Jeremy at school, either going to class or cleaning out his locker. The more she saw him packing, the more she realized it was happening. He was really leaving.

It was just the beginning of lunch when Bonnie came up to her table.

"Is it true you compelled Jeremy to leave?" the witch immediately asked once she came into earshot. Though with vampire hearing, Emma could have heard her anywhere.

Emma, closing the lid of the metal thermos filled with blood, gestured in front of her for Bonnie to sit. "Hello to you, too." she muttered. "Yes, I compelled Jeremy."

"But I don't understand why? I talked to Elena but I just couldn't let her tell me anything because it was _you_ who did it. I want to hear what you have to say."

She really didn't need this. She and her sister made the decision to protect their brother by sending him far from the town and now her only friend just left. With a sigh, the young girl said, "Because, Bonnie, he's not safe here. Every encounter we have with Klaus leads Jer closer to danger. He didn't even notice Tyler was playing him just to get him off vervain so Klaus could compel him. He almost died yesterday."

Bonnie was taken back. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, well, he's better off far away from Mystic Falls. It hurt me to do it, but there was no other way." she explained, squinting from the sun shining in her eyes. She quickly pulled out her phone, mostly to end the conversation, and noticed the time. "Listen, I have to leave school early because I promised Mayor Lockwood I'd help prepare for the fundraising event. Tell Care I said 'Happy Birthday'."

The seer got up from her seat and left school, this time using her speed to stop at her house this time to grabbed the outfit she planned on wearing to the Wickery Bridge Restoration Fundraising party that was really a cover up for the secret meeting meant just for the founding families.

Since Elena was busy with Caroline's birthday and Jeremy was packing, it fell upon Emma to be the representative of the Gilbert family. Her parents used to go to the meetings and when Jenna became the legal guardian, she couldn't go since she was not a blood related. Now that the last of the Gilberts knew of the supernatural world, it was alright for them to attend. She wasn't excited for it because the talks were going to be about the dangers of vampires, something she just happened to be. She wasn't sure if Carol knew of her being one, but she was just going to have to play along.

* * *

The sun had already set by the time Emma set down the bouquet of flowers on an antique furniture piece. Some people were arriving for the event so the young girl made her way to the upstairs bathroom with her outfit, changing into a black pencil skirt, a purple blouse, and a pair of flats. Since she was technically turning 14 soon, she thought she'd dress a bit more mature.

She left the bathroom and placed her belongings in the back room for safe keeping before going back down to the party. This time, more people filled the mansion, drinks already in their hands. She politely smiled at some as she went to the bar to ask for water. It was then that she noticed the model for Wickery Bridge placed in the center of the den.

The girl stood in front of it, taking in the detail of the wooden railings and the river bellow. When her parents died, she never visited the bridge. It was too much to see the exact place of their death. She reached a hand out and lightly traced the rough road.

As her hand went down the length of the miniature bridge, the sound of a car driving filled her ears. At first, she brushed it off as someone's ride outside, but soon realized how close it was, as if she was standing right next to the vehicle. She glanced behind her to see if anyone else heard it too, but found herself in the middle of Wickery Bridge.

Panic rose within her as she whirled around. The moon was high above, providing her light to see she was alone. Soon, a pair of head lights shone in her direction belonging to a familiar red Porsche, but as it went down to road, it transformed into a white pickup truck. She squinted, the car switching back and forth between the Porsche and pickup truck, and saw that the person who was always in both cars was Elena.

"What?" she whispered, unable to move from her spot.

The atmosphere felt heavy, weighing her down. All she could do was cover her face just as the sound of squeezing tires brought her back to reality.

Emma retracted her hand and held it close to her chest, backing away from the model and accidentally bumping into an unsuspecting Alaric.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, grabbing a hold of both of her shoulders to keep her upright.

She rapidly blinked back tears that formed in her eyes. Where the sadness was coming from was unknown to her. "I don't know."

"Did something happen?"

"No. At least, I-I don't think so." she responded, her eyes glued to the bridge. "Something is going to happen to Elena."

The vampire hunter let go of the girl once she could stand on her own. "I noticed something happening now. Any clue as to what?"

"I think it has to do with something starting with a 'Stef' and a 'an'." Damon said just as he joined to two. "She's still holding out for him." He sent a quick glance to the side to the model. "Oh, it's-"

"Yeah, it is." Emma interrupted, turning away from it. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. "Is the meeting happening soon? I am actually not in the mood to be out right now." she asked.

Damon checked his phone, shrugging. "I wasn't planning on staying long. Just dropping a reasonable size donation." he said, pushing past them to do so.

The girl politely smiled at Alaric and followed Damon, instantly remembering what happened the night before.

"So," she began, watching him pull out a check book. "is there anything you'd like to talk about with me?"

He clicked a pen he had grabbed from nearby and scribbled some numbers. "What would I have to talk to you about?"

"I don't know. Maybe about the fact you kissed my sister?"

The Salvatore tore the check out of the book and sent her a smirk. "Oooh, that. Don't tell me, you heard that? How'd it sound? Good?"

She raised a hand, swallowing back some bile that caught at her throat. "Ew, please stop."

"What? You brought it up. Why do you want to talk about it?" He slipped the check inside the donation box.

"Well, because you kissed her when she's still trying to get back Stefan. And I want to know where that came from. I mean, I've noticed a few things weird with you around her, but I never thought you'd actually have, I don't know, feelings." she admitted.

He started walking off again but towards the other bar on the other side of the building. "I wanted to do it, pipsqueak." he said, ordering a bourbon. With the glass in hand, he faced the girl. "I am in love with your sister."

Emma could see the honesty in his eyes, which threw her off. For once, he was actually telling the truth about his emotions. "Wow."

"Wow? That's all you have to say?"

"Hey!" she said, holding her hands up in surrender. "This is really something, Damon. I mean, you're in love with your brother's ex-girlfriend who is kind of still trying to be with him but slowly starting to lose hope. Were you always in love with her?"

"Now it's my turn to say 'wow'."

She rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I'm not _that_ observant, okay? I mean-" She stopped mid-sentence, Klaus' form coming into her view. The last time the two were in the same room was less than a week ago, only a few feet from where she was, and the situation was not good since she tried to kill him with his evil, now dead father.

"God damn it." Damon let out, sipping the bourbon.

They both walked over to the hybrid talking to Carol.

"Look at what the cat dragged in. Nice vest." Damon complemented, ending their conversation.

Klaus huffed and put on the fakest smile she'd ever seen. "Well, thank you very much. Good to see both of you." he said, giving a side eye to Emma.

She unconsciously shrunk back, hanging her head down slightly. She wished she wasn't like that, but with Klaus, anything could set him off in a killing spree, whether his victims were the whole town or just her family.

"Carol and I were just discussing whether you'd be tonight's other big benefactor."

Carol stared over to Klaus, a sort of admiration showing on her face. "What do you say, Damon? Klaus has made a very generous pledge. You know how we're chomping at the bit to begin the renovation."

Damon hummed. "Carol, don't take this the wrong way, but do you realize that you've been kissing the ass- sorry, behind of an immortal hybrid who ruined your son's life?"

"Oh, come now. Some might say I saved it, what all that nasty full moon business." Klaus retorted.

"Yes, because forcing someone into the life of blood lust is so much better than having to face turning into a werewolf every once in a while." Emma said, standing up straighter. It was a risk even saying anything to him, but he had some nerve calling the life of a vampire a gift.

Klaus narrowed his eyes and she noticed him clench his jaw.

"It's alright, Emma." Carol said. "Klaus has promised to protect Tyler and our town."

Damon's eyebrows creased together. "From who? His hybrids are the ones the town needs protections from.

"Well, I'd have no use for them if your brother would kindly return my family."

"Not gonna happen."

Klaus smirked. "That's what I thought, which is why I've come to an agreement with the mayor. You and the council stay out of my hair, I'll stay out of yours. Your town gets protected, my hybrids get left alone and everybody will be happy. All you have to do is to get Stefan to stop decapitating my friends."

"Please, Damon. Just get your brother under control." Carol pleaded. "Or the council will be forced to take action against him."

Emma was taken back. This woman was willing to side with this monster just to keep the town safe. "Carol, you can't be serious."

The mayor shook her head at the girl. "I'm sorry. It's the only way."

"Oh, come on. Give peace a chance." Klaus suggested, sending one last smile in the other two's directions before guiding Carol away.

The eldest Salvatore pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why can't things be easy? Why? It's all I ask for."

"Kind of hard to ask for considering where you chose to live." the seer pointed out.

"You are literally no help."

She missed bantering with Damon like that before she left Mystic Falls earlier that summer. While she was gone with Klaus and Stefan, the whole mood did not call for any sort of humor or happiness. This made it feel like old times.

"Sorry. What do we do? I have no idea where Stefan is or if he's killing hybrids as we speak." she asked in a low voice as they walked into a more crowded area.

He shook his head, searching the many faces for someone in particular. "I don't know. But, with the help of our friendly neighborhood sheriff, I'll figure something out. Go find Stefan and keep an eye on him." She nodded and moved to leave, but he caught her arm. "But whatever you do, don't confront him. Just get me."

She snatched her arm back and backed away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." she said and he went over to Sheriff Forbes, going outside on the patio with her.

Emma glanced around the room she was in, trying to spot the brown mop of hair on top of Stefan's head. She moved to the other room and still couldn't find the guy. With no luck downstairs, she moved up to the second story, peeping into various rooms. No sight of him anywhere. Maybe he wasn't coming to the fundraiser at all.

She was just leaving to head back down to the party when she came face to face with the guy she was looking for.

"Oh, Stef. Hey. Whatcha doing up here?" she asked, catching a glimpse of a long sharp knife.

He gave her a half smile. "I'm here to support this lovely town. Why else would I be here? I see you were saved from that crazy witch. Tell me, did he use sunlight to burn you or pour vervain over you?"

"You really do care." she said, hiding the pain that hit her. She couldn't get use to this side of Stefan. This was not who she wanted to accept he was. "So, the knife, what are you planning on using it for?"

"I don't know." he said, examining the weapon. "Haven't decided yet."

She nodded, crossing her arms. "Sure, it's not like you've been trying to kill hybrids lately, right?"

Stefan nodded along with her. The sound of footsteps approaching reached their ears, and he covered her mouth and dragged her around the corner just as one of Klaus' hybrids entered the hallway. The hybrid closed the door to the hallway and the Salvatore quickly let go of her and attacked the unsuspecting hybrid, stabbing him in the gut with the knife.

Emma ran over and grabbed Stefan's arms, pulling him back away from the fallen hybrid. She took a moment to admire her strength and then kicked the knife out of reach. The doors opened and Damon entered the hallway, his eyes wide.

"What is going on?" he asked, stepping over the groaning hybrid.

"I don't know, ask her." Stefan pointed to the Gilbert.

She scoffed, pointing to him in return. "Whoa, you're the one killing hybrids!"

"I told Klaus to get them out of town. He didn't listen, so now I'm saying it louder."

"You are risking the safety of every person here by doing that." Emma snapped, using her hands to gesture the house.

Damon hit Stefan's chest. "If you think the one's you killed are the only ones, then you know nothing. Don't you think Klaus won't hesitate to make 20 more? Have you forgotten about Elena's part in all this or do you not care if she's a human blood bag for the rest of her life?"

And of course, the youngest Salvatore shoved back. "Protecting Elena is your problem now. See, I'm not compelled by Klaus to do it anymore."

"Don't give me that no humanity crap. You can't just flip your switch. Your switch is fried, Stefan, just like your brain. You want to take Klaus, you want to beat the villain, you got to be smarter."

"No, no. To beat the villain, Damon, you have to be the better villain."

Emma stared at Stefan, disappointed that this is what he thought about. "Even if it means losing everyone you care about?"

He didn't answer, avoiding her judging gaze and left.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

Damon watched his brother leave and she knew he was losing more hope. He may have been adamant that Stefan was a lose cause, she believed deep down he was holding out for him, too.

He, soon, walked off, leaving her with the groaning hybrid. She helped the guy up to his feet and let him lean against the wall before following Damon.

"Damon," she called, gaining his partial attention. "I asked you something."

Like always, he rolled his eyes. "Yes, I heard you. I'm trying to figure something out. My brother has, once again, lost his mind."

At least his brother wasn't in grave danger that she had to compel him to leave town, but she didn't say that to him. "I know. I hate that he's like this just as much as you are. We need a plan to knock some sense into him. Can't we kidnap him like we did before and force his humanity out?"

"Easier said than done. It'd take forever just to take him out." he responded, taking out his phone. "You know what, I'm just going to call Elena."

"I don't know. It's Caroline's birthday and it should be happy and bubbly."

But he had already dialed the doppelganger's number, pressing the speaker button.

The line connected and the first thing she heard was the sound of a car's engine. " _Hello, Damon. She's a little busy right now_."

Emma grabbed Damon's arm and pulled the phone closer to her. "Stefan? Why do you have Elena's phone?"

" _Making my next move. Let me ask you something. What's Klaus gonna do if he can't make any more hybrids_?"

She could hear Elena asking 'what' and she almost called out to her, but Stefan had already ended the call.

"How did he get to her so fast? He literally just left."

Damon stuffed his phone in his leather jacket pocket. "I don't know, but whatever he's going to do is not good."

* * *

"What now? You just pulled me away from a fascinating conversation about landscaping the town square." Klaus inquired as the three of them entered a private room.

After the delightful conversation with Stefan, Emma and Damon agreed that, as much as she hated it, they needed to speak to Klaus. They needed him to know that whatever Stefan was doing, it was all on his own.

"Stefan just grabbed Elena." Damon said, shutting the door.

Klaus quirked up an eyebrow. "What? He's getting desperate."

"He's gonna try to use her against you. Do what he says. Get rid of your hybrids."

"Or what? Your brother would never dream of killing her." Klaus retorted, taking a sniff of a bouquet of flowers she happened to have arranged.

Emma shook her head. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but this isn't the same Stefan from before. I'm not confident that he won't do anything to her." she admitted.

"That kind of love never dies." Damon and Emma shared a look, both knowing better. "He's bluffing." Klaus said.

Damon shrugged, advancing closer to the original. "Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but if you don't want to believe him, believe me. I know my brother better than anyone and right now I don't have a clue how far he's willing to take this. So, if he says blink, I suggest you blink." he suggested.

The hybrid narrowed his eyes at him, anger evident in his posture. She expected Klaus to do something violent, like stab Damon in the gut with the stem of a flower or snap his neck, but he didn't do anything, just taking his leave.

"That went well." she commented once the door closed. "Because he's going to call Stefan's bluff, Elena might die."

"Don't say that." Damon said, worry weighing him down.

She watched him pace around the room, his mind clearly somewhere else. This was the kind of person she wanted Damon to be all the time; to actually care about what happens to someone else than about himself. He truly did love her sister. But who knows what Stefan was planning on doing with her.

"Wait." she said, thinking back to the phone call. "did- did you by any chance hear a car when we talked to Stefan?"

The Salvatore nodded. "Yeah, why?"

 _The car. Why would they be in a car? Where would they be going?_ she asked herself. _What was Stefan planning on doing?_ Then it clicked: her vision.

"Oh, my god!" Emma exclaimed, vamping out the building before Damon had the chance to ask anything.

No way. There was no way Stefan would be so cruel. He knew what happened on that bridge, considering he saved Elena from dying with their parents. Her vision stopped when the car, or cars, when they reached the middle of the bridge, so she had no idea if Stefan had done it. She pushed herself harder at the thought to get to Wickery Bridge, hoping she wasn't too late.

She halted in the center, just as Stefan's red Porsche was racing right to her. Her arms shielded her face and the Porsche came to a screeching stop. The pain she expected didn't come and she brought her arms down, seeing a petrified Elena and calm Stefan. The passenger door opened and Elena rushed out, slamming the door shut.

Emma hurried over to her and hugged her trembling body. "Elena, are you okay?" She pulled back and noticed blood staining the corners of Elena's mouth.

"Get back in the car, Elena." Stefan ordered, exiting the car as well.

Elena turned to him. "How could you?! My parents died going over this bridge. I almost died."

"Look, he had to believe that i would do it, all right? Your fear sold it."

"All of this just to get rid of the hybrids? What if he hadn't backed down, Stefan?" Emma shot back, her nostrils fuming.

"He did."

"But what if he didn't?"

"He did!" Stefan yelled, jabbing a finger at her. "He has a weakness! If I know his weakness, I can destroy him!"

Elena, tears already streaming down her face, started backing away. "After everything, that's what mattered, destroying Klaus?"

Emma scanned Stefan's face, trying to find some trace of emotion, but alas, nothing.

"Destroying him is all I have."

"You had me!" Elena shouted.

The young vampire could tell the conversation had entered an area she had no business in, so she stepped to the side to give them a bit of privacy.

To preoccupy herself while the other two spoke, she took out her phone and sent Damon a text, quickly explaining why she left and what had happened.

Stefan had started heading back to his car. "I don't care what you think about me anymore, Elena." he said, getting inside and driving off.

Emma reached out and laid a hand on Elena's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze of comfort.

"Take me home, please." Elena asked, hugging herself tightly.

"Okay." Emma whispered. She moved to stand in front of Elena and grabbed both her arms. "Brace yourself." She felt Elena tense and then used her vampire speed to take them to their home.

They went up the porch steps to the door, Damon appearing behind them.

"I'll be inside." she said, going inside and to her room.

She kicked off her flats and plopped onto her desk chair, only to realize she left her original clothes at Founders' Hall. She groaned but decided not to go back to retrieve them. It was pointless at this point; she was tired and wanted rest. As she move to head to her bed, she saw the notebook she wrote in the night before. Considering she had another vision, she thought it was best to finish updating the notebook.

Finally reaching to her vision at Wickery Bridge, she double underlined the sentence of the car transforming into a truck and back. On the side, she wrote:

 _what does it mean?_

* * *

Emma crushed Jeremy in a tight hug; the day she was dreading having arrived.

"Ah, Em, can't breathe." Jeremy said, letting out a cough.

She loosened her arms and smiled up to him. "Sorry."

"Be safe, okay?" Elena said, bringing him into a hug of her own.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and backed away, picking up his backpack. "Yeah, I will. Alaric's waiting for me."

The seer stood by Elena as their brother moved to leave, but Bonnie jogged up the porch, stopping him.

"Good, you haven't left yet." she said, out of breath.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Bonnie snuck a glance to Elena, making Emma wonder what had happened between them.

"I came to say good-bye." the witch said, stepping over to him and hugging him.

Jeremy grabbed the rest of his stuff and stepped outside of the house, turning back once last time. And he was gone.

* * *

 **Yay! Update! Every time I write whatever is happening to Emma, I feel as though she's changing each time. She's growing to become the confident and strong woman she's meant to be. UGH I CAN'T WAIT FOR WHEN HER STORY ENDS.**


	11. The Ties that Bind

A smile formed on Emma's as she stared at the picture sent to her from Jeremy. It was of him standing in his new room in Colorado with his tongue out and a piece sign in the air. She couldn't help the feeling of sadness hitting her, but knew this was how things had to be. He was truly happy and safe.

The sound of crushed leaves behind her made Elena and herself turn from the witch house, seeing Bonnie approach from the woods pathway.

"Hey, guys." she said, coming to a halt in front of the Gilbert sisters. "Thanks for coming."

Emma stuffed her phone in her back pocket. "Yeah, of course. What's up?"

The Bennett witch inhaled and gestured towards the house. "There's something I've been keeping and I think it's time you knew about it." she explained, beginning to head to the house.

Elena followed after her, but Emma trailed a bit behind as they neared the ancient home. This place held horrible memories she wished to leave behind and the number one thing that was at the top of her head was the fact that the witches were no fans of vampires. She remembered how they took the magic away from Damon's daylight ring while he was inside, resulting in him being burned by rays of sunlight. Now that she was the same kind as him, there was no telling if they'd do the same.

Bonnie opened the front door and entered; Elena next.

"I-I think I'm going to stay out here." she said, stopping just at the border and peering inside. It still was covered in cobwebs and thick coats of dust blanketed every surface.

"Emma, it's okay for you to come in." Bonnie stated, waving her over.

"But, I'm a vampire. The witches don't like vampires."

Bonnie cracked a smile. "You're safe, okay? They won't hurt you."

The seer slowly placed her left foot forward and went through the door. As she walked behind the older girls, she came upon a large beam of sunlight, right before the steps to the basement. Keeping Bonnie's words in mind, she allowed herself to cross the beam and felt her worries fade away when the anticipated pain never came. She reached the bottom of the steps and turned right, coming face to face with the four missing Mikaelson caskets.

"Oh, my god." she muttered, her wide green eyes gazing on them. "They've been here the whole time?"

The witch nodded, standing between two of the caskets. "Stefan brought them here and told me not to tell anyone, but I've been having these dreams of that one," she explained, pointing the slightly different casket at the end. "where I'm trapped inside with no way out but someone opens it for me. I feel like it could be a message from the witches."

"I can't believe no one told me about this." Elena commented, crossing her arms.

"Stefan thought that if you knew where they were and Klaus found out, he'd threaten to kill everyone just to get you to talk." Bonnie said.

"Smart idea." Emma said, making her way to the mystery casket. "What's so special about this one?"

"It won't open. We don't know who or what's inside."

The young girl ran her hand over the top, leaving a trail with her index finger through the dust. She thought back to the vision from before of the mystery woman.

"Maybe it's something that can help us kill Klaus." she said, grabbing a hold on the edges. She tried to open it but found Bonnie was right. It was sealed closed.

Her ears picked up on footsteps making their way down the stairs and knew they were Stefan. She trained herself to remember how everyone walked to brace herself if it was someone evil.

"What the hell you doing?" he asked, coming to a stop next to Elena.

Bonnie sighed. "I needed them to know about the coffin."

Stefan narrowed his green eyes at the witch. "And I needed you to keep her out of it, Bonnie." he snapped.

"So what are you going to do, Stefan?" Elena questioned, turning to him. "Are you going to kidnap me so that I won't tell anyone?"

The Salvatore let out a low chuckle. "Don't tempt me, Elena."

Emma rolled her eyes, her arms propped up on her hips. If Stefan was running for the worst human being in the world, aside from Klaus of course, then he was the winner.

"I think I know who can open the coffin, Stefan." Bonnie said, snapping Stefan's attention away from Elena. "And I need Elena to help me find her."

"Find who? What are you talking about?"

Bonnie seemed hesitant at first but reached into her jean pocket, pulling out a small wallet. She took out a warn out paper and held it up. "I couldn't place her face at first, but then I realized. . ."

Emma walked over, peered over Elena's shoulder, and viewed the paper, seeing it was an old photograph she knew all to well. It was of a young woman and a child.

"Oh, my god, Bonnie." Elena said, laying a comforting hand on the witch's shoulder.

Stefan plucked the picture out of Bonnie's hand. "Who is this?"

"It's my mom. I was hoping Elena would help me search for her."

Elena nodded. "Of course. We should start now. Let's go."

They both turned to head back up the basement stairs, but Emma stayed in her place. "I'm going to stay back with the coffins."

Elena's eyes shifted to Stefan standing behind the young girl, but Emma used her hand as a way to signal for the doppelganger's worries to go down a few notches. It seemed to have worked and Elena left with Bonnie, leaving Emma with Stefan.

He wasn't the reason why she wanted to stay behind. The one lone coffin that refused to be open couldn't get out of her head. Why was this one so special? She made her way back over to it and placed her hand on it.

"I don't know why you're not more concerned for Elena's safety." Stefan said from behind.

Emma faced him, her eyes narrowed toward him. "I didn't even know they were here, Stefan. Bonnie brought us here and I'm glad she did. We have the right to know."

"Do I honestly have to spell it out for you and everyone else every single god damn time?!" Stefan said, his voice rising. "If Klaus knows about this, then he'll go after Jeremy, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline, you just to get Elena to tell him where they are. After that, he'll use her to make more hybrids. There will be no stopping him after that."

This threw her off. "It's not like you car-" She paused, taking a moment to analyze Stefan's words and current expression. Stefan was actually showing concern. "Hold on. Do you have your- your humanity back?"

He shook his head, adjusting his stance. "No."

"It would explain why you didn't actually go over Wickery Bridge. Even if I wasn't there, you would have stopped the car."

"My humanity is not back, Emma." he snapped.

She stepped closer to him. "Fine. It's not back, but part of it is showing. You're just not letting it all out." she concluded, coming to a halt right before him. "Why not?"

He towered over her, forcing her to crane her neck up. "Because."

"Because why?"

"Because there's no point in me feeling again when I've already lost everything." he confessed, backing up and making his way to the stairs.

Emma followed him, racing up the stairs to keep up with his long strides. "You know that's not true! We all want you back. Elena especially."

They made it through the rest of the house and out the door, the mid-morning sunlight shining above them.

"Doesn't matter anymore." he said, stomping deep into the woods.

Emma huffed and vamped in front of him, blocking his path. "Stop it. You really need to snap out of this brooding, 'nothing is left for me' phase. There's still time for you to get her back before. . ." She trailed off, realizing what she was about to say. As much as she cared about Damon, him being with Elena would only bring pain to her.

"Before what?" Stefan questioned.

She shook her head. "Nothing, I'm just saying you have people who care about you and want you to get better. You're trying so hard to keep everyone at a distance that it's hurting you even more."

"Get out of my way, Emma." he said, but she shook her head in defiance. "Now."

"No."

Stefan glared at the girl and seized her arm. Emma hit his forearm and he lost his grip. In retaliation, he shoved her against a nearby tree and stepped to leave, only for her to vamp in his way. She tried to do the same he did to her but he spun her around and held her in a headlock.

"Even with your new found strength, you are still a weak kid." he said as she still struggled in his grasp. "You done?"

Emma tried one for time to tear his arm from around her neck, but he was older and stronger. She stopped and tapped his elbow, his grip loosening. She stumbled forward, struggling to catch her breath.

"So that's it? You're gonna push me aside and go about with your lonesome self?" she asked, straightening herself.

He already began walking off. "Yeah. It's how I like it."

She reached her hands out and smashed them together, imagining Stefan's head was between them. "Well, if I can't stop you, then I'll just follow."

"W-"

His Porsche came into view and before he could finish, she vamped over to the car and into the passenger seat, feet propped up on the dash.

"Man, I love this car so much. If you ever get tired of it, can I keep it?"

Stefan trudged over to the car, his eyes already rolling. "I knew I should have left the car back at home." He kept his gaze away from her, missing her cheeky smile. As the car roared to life, he swatted at her legs and sped off to the boarding house.

When they got there, the devil himself was sitting comfortably on one of the arm chairs with a drink in his hand and music blaring for all to hear. Emma stayed back as Stefan made his way over to the hybrid and turn down the music.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" he asked, tossing the stereo remote in his hands.

"Enjoying our stalemate."

Stefan chuckled, taking seat on an arm chair across from Klaus. "What do you want?"

"Question is, what do you want? My hybrids left town as you demanded, so please tell me what I need to do to get my family back."

"I'm not sure they want to go back to you." Emma commented, making her way past Klaus to sit at the empty couch. "I think they're in great hands with us."

Klaus smiled and shook his head. "Ah, Emma, that's where you're wrong. Holding onto them indefinitely is the same as dropping them in the ocean."

Stefan sucked in a breath. "I'm not negotiating at the moment. You leave Mystic Falls and then give me a call in a few years, and we'll talk."

Emma watched as the original took a swig of his bourbon. "I'm going to give you one more chance. Let's make a reasonable deal."

Stefan leaned forward. "Or what? You do anything and I'll-"

"Yes, that's right." Klaus laughed. "Crazy Stefan. How's that working out for you?" he asked. "Any friends left?"

He left Stefan speechless, but the Salvatore masked it as he sat back in the chair. "I'd love to stay and go around in circles some more," he began after a short moment of silence. "but I've got things to take care of. Nice seeing you."

Emma stood and went to follow after him, thankful for finally leave, but was stopped by Klaus' outstretched leg.

"If it's alright, I would like to have a chat with the young one." Klaus said, his eyes trained on her small form.

She watched Stefan halt at the front door, glancing back at her. She pleaded with her eyes to save her. "Better with you than with me." he said, closing the door shut behind him.

She stepped away from Klaus, the pit of her stomach doing 360 flips.

"Now that we're finally alone, I'd like to discuss what happened back at the homecoming party." he said, setting his glass down and standing.

"Klaus-"

In a flash, the original's hand was wrapped around her neck and she felt her body being moved until her back hit the fireplace mantel, hard. "I am not in the mood for excuses. You betrayed me."

His grip wasn't tight enough to block her air way, so she was able to say, "And you think Stefan wasn't apart of the plan?"

"Yet, who's the one free of my control?" Klaus asked, sending dread through her body. "Now, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones if you tell me where the coffins are."

"I don't know."

Still holding her neck, he threw her across the room, and she hit the edge of the wall, falling on the small set of stairs to the front door.

"And I don't believe you." Klaus said, strutting over to her.

"I don't know!" she shouted, ignoring the throbbing pain to her lower back and crawling backwards away from him. "He just told me he had them but wouldn't say where because he knew you'd do something like this."

The hybrid stopped at her words.

Emma got to her feet shakily, leaving herself ready to make a run for it. "Stefan was one step ahead of you."

He seemed to have realized the same thing. "Well, that's unfortunate." he said and vamped over to her, snapping her neck to the side.

* * *

 _She found herself back in the basement with the coffins, standing in the very center. Lit candles circled around her and made a path that led to one of the normal coffins. With hesitant feet, she walked followed the path, halting just before the lid. Resting a hand on the edge, Emma lifted up the lid only to find the inside of the coffin empty._

 _"Emma." a husky voice whispered in her ear._

 _She whirled around and found no one behind her. She searched for the owner and yet, she was all alone. Her eyes fell upon the mysteriously locked coffin and thought the voice was coming from there._

 _"Emma." it said again, echoing all around, and the girl turned once more to find Elijah standing in the circle of candles._

 _He still wore the same suit he had on when she found him daggered on the floor of Alaric's apartment back before she left Mystic Falls._

 _"Elijah?" she called out, noting the dagger that was still lodged in his chest._

 _He nodded then grabbed the dagger handle. "You must free me."_

 _Emma was taken back. Why would she do that?_

 _"Free me, Emma." he said, now standing directly behind her. "Free me."_

* * *

Emma woke with a gasp and sat up, instantly regretting it when her neck stung with pain. Her visions were getting weirder and weirder by the passing time, becoming even more confusing than the next.

Why was it important for her to free Elijah? What would that have to do with anything? Even if she did, there was no way he'd ever trust him after his betrayal at the ritual. He would probably make things worse by aiding Klaus in finding the rest of the Mikaelson family.

Then again, Klaus did stab him in the chest again. If he were to wake up, she was sure he'd be extremely pissed at his younger brother.

She rose to her feet and vamped to the witch house, flying inside to the basement.

Being alone in the house was not a good feeling. It was as though all the witches were there and breathing down her neck. It was strange. She shook her nerves off and went to Elijah's coffin, lifting the top off.

There he lay; covered in bulging veins and all gray. Just like her vision, he had the suit on and the dagger in his chest, only this time he was unmoving. Her hand hovered over the handle, rethinking her no so thought over plan. By doing it, it would change everything. But maybe, that's what she needed to do in order to win.

Wrapping her fingers around the handle, she lifted the dagger out of his chest and took a couple steps back. From the last time she undaggered him, it took him some time to come back. She hoped he'd remain this way long enough for her to get the hell out of there. Tucking the dagger in the waist band of her jeans and closing the lid, she made the move to leave, but as she did so, a soft whooshing sound was heard and the coffins were no longer there. A pair of footsteps trudged down the basement stairs and she knew she should have never gone back there.

"Nice to see you're awake again." Klaus commented, walking further into the basement with his arms clasped behind him.

Emma, like Stefan did back at the boarding house, masked her shock and crossed her arms. "If you're looking for the coffins, they aren't in here." she said, just as Damon came rushing in.

The hybrid smiled. "Lying is not a good look for you, darling. I know they're here." He faced Damon. "Hiding behind your witchy friends. And in squalor, no less."

The many unlit candles burned to life and the flames grew large as Klaus dropped to the floor with his hand on his head, screaming out loud.

Damon smirked. "Insulting a bunch of dead witches. . . not smart. I made the exact same mistake first time I came in here."

Klaus grunted as he struggled to stay on his knees. "Well, you know the funny thing about witches is that living or dead, they care about their own. A hundred dead witches having a thousand living descendants-" He screamed out in pain again, cradling his head. "And I have no problem killing every last one of them if I don't get my coffins back." he said, using all his strength to stand up. "As we speak, my hybrid friend is prepared to end the Bennett line."

The flames calmed, simply flickering like normal. Klaus sighed, rubbing his neck.

Emma made eye contact with Damon and wished she could tell him what she did and ask for some sort of plan, but it was impossible with Klaus.

"Now, please show me the coffins." he said, and with another whoosh, the coffins reappeared.

The Gilbert scanned over the coffins and noticed the special coffin was missing. Was it always gone?

"Where's the fourth?" Klaus growled. "Show me!" he shouted to the witches, but received no answer.

Damon, seeming more smug than usual, went over to where the coffin would have been. "Well, here's the thing. They can't. It's not here."

"What did you do?" Klaus questioned, advancing toward Damon.

"Bonnie warned us, and since I was pressed on time, I was only able to get to one." the Salvatore explained.

Klaus stared at both vampires, rage radiating off of him. "I will tear you all limb from limb and only then, when you are a writhing mass of blood and flesh, will I rip your hearts from your chests."

"Sorry. Same rules apply." Damon said. "Leverage and all. I know you want your family back. Bur something tells me you want what's in that coffin a lot more." he dragged out, moving out the basement.

Klaus turned to Emma, but she gave him a shrug and vamped out the house with Damon.

* * *

Emma collapsed onto the same couch from before, the weight of the day bringing her down. Maybe it was because she was a vampire that it hit her harder or it was what she had to go through that day.

"Hey," she said as Damon poured two glasses of bourbon. "just so you know, Klaus had some of that."

The guy shrugged. "Any other day, I'd be pissed, but today was a success." He took the glasses and sat next to her, handing her one of them.

She stared at it for a moment and then at him, blown away he was actually giving her some.

"Take it. You're not a kid anymore and your performance back there of pretending that you knew exactly what I was talking about was spectacular."

The girl smiled and accepted the glass, taking a sip of the alcohol. She cough, the liquid burning her throat. "Ugh, gross."

"Eh, you'll get use to it." he said, sipping his own.

The front door opened and Stefan walked in. She could tell straight away something was bothering him.

"Oh, you're still alive? I assume that means Klaus didn't get his coffins." he said, entering the living area.

"Don't look so happy. I was only able to get one of them out in time. The locked one." Damon informed, standing up to meet his brother.

Stefan shrugged but something about him seemed off. "Probably a good choice."

"I wouldn't bank on Bonnie's mama to open it. She doesn't have any powers."

"Ah, doesn't surprise me. It's been that kind of night." Stefan replied, and turned to leave.

"Is Elena ok?" Emma asked. She wish she hadn't because Stefan spun around and slammed his fist into Damon's cheek.

She gasped and set her glass on the ground, checking on Damon.

"I take it you two had a heart to heart." Damon groaned, a hand on his red cheek. "And I take it you don't want to talk about it. Noted."

Emma cleared her throat. "Then is it okay if we talk about something I did?"

"And what could you have possibly done?" Damon asked.

She reached behind her and pulled out Elijah's dagger.

"What did you do?" Stefan inquired, his eyes honed onto the weapon.

"Let's just say a certain angry older brother is waking up just about now."


End file.
